The Kingfisher's Dream
by Sachi-Sensei
Summary: He thought he loved her for a long time, but as he lay dying in the fern and grass he realized something else. He was not just in love with that warm and motherly auburn-haired girl but he was also enchanted by how kind she was to him, to everyone, a rarity. And as he lay there in the grass, time stopped as he looked back on his life and how he met and fell in love with Petra Ral.
1. Prologue: Why Must This Be So?

**Author's Note:** I know many of you might hate this pairing or not understand it, but I don't care. I feel the need to write this. After watching the anime, especially episode 21, I began to cherish and love the pairing Auruo Bossard (Oluo Bozardo) and Petra Ral and it became one of my favorite pairings (Despite being dead). Auruo and Petra's relationship and friendship was far more developed, interesting, and had a lot going on and just felt more real than LevixPetra in my opinion. Yes, I know it is heavily implied that she would have married Levi but I love the interaction between Auruo and Petra. And after watching episode 21, it shattered my heart. Anyway this is a series of vignettes and scenes involving the two Scouts from their first meetings to their first mission together to their very last moments. Also, some say Auruo is like, 19 years old. That may be true but for my story he'll be thirty and Petra will be 23 by the end of this story. LevixPetra and one sided AuruoxPetra. Alright onto the story, the unrequited love of a thirty-year-old man and an oblivious young woman.

Note that Auruo will be very OOC (Out-of-Character) a good half or so of the story. That is on purpose.

**Also note that some events have been changed to fit this story.**

**Disclaimer:** Obviously, I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin (Oh, how I wish). It won't follow the canon storyline completely.

* * *

**The Kingfisher's Dream**

**Prologue**

**Why Must This Be So?**

* * *

Even though the bloody noon sun scorched the air, his breath was chilled, devoid of life. Its gray fog kissed his nose as if trying to comfort the hurting, doomed man. He could see his breath's ghostly veil dance in front of him before disappearing like a shadow in candle light. His heart, it slammed against his rib cage. His brain beating against his skull like a drum, it frantically tried to get the thirty-year-old man to flee. But his training and his heart told him to continue on. After all, the one closest to his bruised heart was in absolute danger. He looked downward as he flew above the forest glade. His body froze in complete disbelief of what had just happened and what he saw. Not a moment ago, Eld Shin, his comrade and brother-in-arms for years was slaughtered, spat away like an olive pit as if his life meant nothing, like he was nothing but a piece of meat. His severed body lay strewn across the blood soaked fern. His face was stiff. His eyes were half open. His mouth was agape with slick, metallic blood dripping out. Auruo could do nothing. He felt like screaming his lungs out, but he could not. He had a job to do, and he knew he had to do it.

Barely recovering from the shock that stricken and froze his actions, he replaces his dulled blades and exhaled violently, readying himself for his next attack. He propelled from where he landed early back towards the forest clearing from his latest strike. As he propelled above the forest floor he saw Petra gliding away from the Female Titan with the same face as his, disbelief. Her voice was frantic, screaming and asking repeatedly, why the Female Titan had healed so quickly. Her eyes like saucers for they stretched widely. Her voice and body was laden, drowned in an emotion, a primal feeling. It was something they all thought was once dormant in them, but it was as real and alive inside them as their skin and flesh is.

_Fear._

Silence overtook the two surviving scouts for a moment. The only sounds that had now reached Auruo's ringing ears were his strained breathing, the ghostly wind, the deep thuds of the Female Titan's steps as she staggered forward, and... Petra's awful screams of despair and desperation. Her voice broke him like glass. He could see her gliding dangerously close to the forest foliage below. Her eyes were wide with absolute fear and disbelief. How? How did the female Titan heal so quickly? With such swiftness that rivaled even the most cunning serpent, she had killed their second-in-command, but more importantly, their friend.

She was whimpering. Petra was broken. He had not seen her that afraid, this primal fear since her first mission, oh so many years ago. He had never seen her so stricken before. Her face made him even more scared, not because her fear was so contagious or anything, but because he knew how helpless, how useless he was. At that moment, as he propelled frantically towards the auburn-haired woman and her pursuer, he felt like nothing. He had saved Petra so many times, comforted her through so many trials to continue on even when hope was fading. But now, he could no longer help her anymore. Now, now luck was not on either of their sides. He felt so incredibly small and worthless. He was right above the Female Titan now as it bolted towards her. His eyes were saucers, his face white with terror.

"Petra! We need to regroup!" He screamed, his voice cracking and high-pitched as he pleaded with her to ascend from the forest floor.

_"God, please Petra. Please, get out there!" _He screamed inside.

She could not; her fear had finally doomed her. Both of them could do nothing but watch as the Titan barreled down towards her at full gallop. With less than a gait away, the Female Titan slammed forward with its foot directly in line with the helpless, fear-stricken auburn-haired girl.

_'PETRA, GET OUT OF THERE!'_ He cried inside.

"PETRA, NOW!" Were his desperate pleas as he screamed her name one last time, drowning the bird calls with his desperate and futile cries for his friend.

Time slowed as his nightmare approached, unchallenged.

_SLAM!_

A single thug was heard, crackling the very air itself. His ears blistered and died with that single nauseating beat. His spine rippled with distress. His bruised heart passed into shadow, his stomach flipped and emptied as he felt hot tears begin to form. Everything grew quiet as birds flew away from the nightmarish disturbance. A splash of crimson shot up the tree trunk as the Titan loomed overhead, signifying the final blow to the demise of the man's dreams.

"Petra?" he uttered. His voice was cracked and broken and at that moment, the last remnant of the pseudo-Levi persona was dead, forever gone.

_'No! No, no, no, no, this cannot be happening! Please, God all mighty do not do this to her, anyone but Petra_!' He screamed inside, holding his breath until he could no longer, gasping for air.

That silence that followed was unending, until Auruo heard a crackle from afar. Eren's screams echoed from behind. The fool, the brown-haired teenager fell for the trap. Eren's screams only intensified Auruo's anguish as he stared back down.

His eyes meet only crimson.

He had prayed for a long time that he would never see this. The death of everything he knew, everything he ever loved or cherished. Everything, she was gone. But like his every other pray, it was left unanswered as her blood now dripped down like dew from the dented tree trunk. From where _she_ was supposed to be, all Auruo saw was crimson and the foot of the Titan. The fleshy foot of the female Titan drew away from the soaked tree trunk. A red stain was all that remained of her. A blotch on an unremarkable tree in a forest of giants was her last mark on this world. All he could see from where he was above was _her_. Her body was bent and broken; her head hung back, lifeless. Her eyes were cold and dull, far from his memories of her gentle glow that kept him alive and happy all these years. Tears dripped from his tired, heavy-eyed face as he gazed down upon her beautiful but now bloodied face of the woman he would sacrifice his own happiness to see her smile.

He could no longer breathe; his lungs could no longer draw any air, not even for him to scream.

_'No, this can't be real.' _He uttered, internally.

Denying it only made him break more.

His throat was scratched up and numb from screaming her name, the last things he knew she heard, his voice. Auruo could only watch as her body became limp, covered in the same crimson that escaped Eld and Gunter and countless others before them. He had seen that liquid all too often. He had always had the same reaction to the sight, disgust. But now, now he felt something else, hopelessness. She laid there strewn and crushed onto the trunk of the massive tree. Her once lively eyes were now dull and half open as her body clung against the large tree. She lay there, motionless, crushed by the Female Titan's enormous foot. That monster had crushed her, his friend, his love, his everything as if she was nothing, as if she was but an insignificant ant under one's heel. His face itself was the true portrait of despair, sorrow, and loss.

He was in an ultimate shock for those few moments he glanced down upon her, trying to reassure himself that maybe, just maybe Petra was still alive. But he couldn't lie to himself, he knew the truth. He could not place his trust onto hope. For it had forsaken him, like so many before. No matter how much he wanted to say otherwise he knew.

Petra Ral was dead.

He had cruelly witnessed the murder with his own eyes. He, himself alone saw the death of everyone he ever had the heart to care. He held back every tear, valiantly. It took every ounce and fiber of his being to resist the temptation, the easy urge to break down and weep.

For weeping would be for another time, not here in the forest of death.

He exhaled and with that he felt something leave him and realized what it was, his will to live on. His purpose to survive was dead. His life was over. His face etched in sorrow froze in place as did the world. The world around him slowed and disappeared into white as he remembered, remembering everything he regretted, everything he lost and everything he loved. He exhaled as he saw the world he knew flash before him, Petra. He closed his eyes, squeezing his blades until his knuckles turned white. He was finished, at that moment as his breath left him, he knew, he would not leave this forest alive.

_"Fight, even if it's hopeless you fight and fight and fight until you can no longer fight again."_

His eyes opened suddenly and then narrowed as he felt a new feeling surge within him. Instead of the helplessness that chained him like a caged bird he was filled with a fueling, raging anger he'd never felt before. This anger, no, this rabid, berserking wrath powered him up for a final, desperate strike.

He grappled onto the nape of the Titan's neck and rappelled down at full speed.

"Hey..." He uttered; his voice was dangerously low, laden with furious anger.

"DIE!" He hollered, his voice booming with wrath.

Clenching his shining blades harder than ever before, he let out the loudest, most passion-filled scream he could, and launched himself at the Female Titan with a speed surpassing even Levi's. He lost all thought and reason as one and only one image, one face formed in his mind, Petra. With his screams, he had gathered up as much strength as he could to avenge her death.

But he knew, he was going to die. But better to die for the ones you love than to live a coward, left behind by those that passed.

He swung his blades as hard. The blades sung a sonnet of vengeance and gore-filled battle. The blades fell true upon the flesh of the still Titan.

_'This is it. DEATH!'_ He screamed in his mind. His eyes reddened with blood lust.

But as he and made contact that furious anger and passion was cut short. As suddenly as it began, his attack ended. His blades shattered right in front of him. His attack rang through the forest with a high metallic pitch. His eyes widened in disbelief as the world slowed. His back faced the Titan he slid away as a bead of sweat fell.

The Titan had hardened its skin, breaking his blades like it had broken his soul. He was first to actually hit the Titan's weak spot, but still it failed.

"How? My blade can't pierce it..." He uttered, his face frozen in a storm of disbelief, loss, and anguish.

He had killed dozens of Titans before, all with ease, but now, now when his skill was needed most, it failed.

And then it happened.

In a flash, the air around him was launched in the direction he was facing, down a forest path.

It all happened in almost an instant as he floated in the air from his attack. All he could feel was a massive, energy-filled force slam into his body. All air left in his lungs was immediately squeezed out of him as blood shot from his mouth. The Titan had kicked him straight on, sending him plummeting to the ground a few dozen meters away. Feeling his insides crushing and his bones shattering beneath him, everything began to blur. The light of the forest darkened with each passing moment until he landed on the forest floor on his chest.

* * *

**Some Time Later**

The soft feeling of grass tickling his nose, arousing the man to open his eyes.

His body grew limp as he barely kept his eyes half-open. He looked dead but still for some reason he had just a gasp of life left in him. Was it fate or luck that allowed him to land facing in such a way that allowed him to gaze upon his dead love, perhaps? The light from the sun echoed through the treetops to bath the auburn-haired girl in amber light, like a Goddess or a spring flower ready to bloom. Regardless, he laid there, his gear scattered across the forest clearing blood oozing from his mouth, and it was not from his tongue.

A long while passed and yet he still lived, just staring at his love. It was as if death would not take him, for something still needed to be done, something to be said. A while back, massive thuds resounded about in the trees. Eren and the Female Titan had engaged in fighting and had disappeared off somewhere deeper into the forest. Auruo, although he could not muster the strength to move saw as his commander, the man who effortlessly stole the heart of his love disappeared as well, off to hopefully avenge them. He graced a weak smile as he felt strangely content, knowing that his revenge for Petra would be fulfilled, ironically by the man he emulated not our of respect but jealously and whom he saw as a rival.

Laying there in the bloodied fern and hornwort, Auruo took the time to think, about his now ending life, his family, his friends, his lasting legacy, but most important to him, the woman that unknowingly stole his heart, Petra.

He thought he loved her for a long time, but as he lay dying in the fern and grass he realized something else. He was not just in love with that warm and motherly auburn-haired girl but he was also enchanted by how kind she was to him, to everyone, a rarity. And as he lay there in the grass, time stopped as he looked back on his life and how he met and fell in love with Petra Ral.

He sighed.

The world around him turned white and blue as he reminisced about his life as it flashed before him. Remembering all the things he lacked, regretted, loved, and cherished. He smiled. He smiled weakly as he raised his arm towards the woman he loved, asking the same question he asked himself all too often, why? Why must this be so?

**...**

_"Why, you ask? Why must this be so? It is because we make choices, choices of which we are blind of the outcome. But one thing you must always take to heart, never regret them."_

**Chapter Song(s): Omake Pfadlib by Hiroyuki Sawano (****Attack on Titan OST)**

* * *

**Author's Note:** That is just the first chapter. The next chapter takes us back 11 years to the first time the two meet officially.


	2. The Girl with the Blue Dress

**Chapter Synopsis:** First off I want to thank everyone for their support of this story. So much support in for just the first chapter. Thank you. Alright now, this next chapter, the official chapter one takes place 11 years prior to episode 21 and 6 years prior to the breach of Wall Maria. Okay, in this chapter, a 19-year-old Auruo Bossard is running late for muster for his first expedition beyond the walls as a new member of the Scouting Legion and has his first meetings with a lost 12-year-old Petra Ral.

* * *

**The Kingfisher's Dream**

**Chapter One**

**The Girl with the Blue Dress**

* * *

The morning sun's amber glow was looming overhead now as it beat down, mercilessly upon the scorched cobble. Light corroded rock; water dissolved stone and the walls hid all from knowledge. The light snaked through the maze of side streets and alleys as it slowly drew forth to noon. Amber fingers flicker upon the stones as the dew evaporates into mist and then into nothingness.

Wall Maria's eastern outlying district was tranquilly quiet this burning summer day. It had grown quite hot so early that most of the streets were emptied with not a single soul in sight. The majority of the town had either headed towards the river to cool off or towards the outer gate to watch the mustering Scouts ready for their latest expedition, leaving the center emptied of most human activity.

_Silence._

A gentle breeze blew through one tiered alley, cooling the air. A light gust crackled sun-dried leaves and rustled the new grass as it passed into silence. As the breeze wafted through the alley with it came the sound of footsteps. They were light at first, distant in their approach. They were but a specter's moan; that was how low they were. But as they drew nearer from the rear of the district, the Marian Gate, they grew louder. The owner of those steps soon came to view from the slopped steps.

A tall man, draped in a dark-green travel cloak came to view from the high sloped alley. A man with curly, ear length sand-colored hair ran forth through the alley in a hurried, rushed pace. The metallic cling of his steel blade box sheaths signified his advance as he ran. His breath was labored and frequent, huffing wildly as he ran. His lungs burned from exertion and his legs ached with overuse. His forehead was slick with a thin layer of sweat from the sweltering heat and his clothing clung tightly against his body with irritating results. The young man's uncut, sandy hair was matted and floppy, he obviously never combed it, enhancing his already russet and unkempt appearance. It was the naive face of a peasant, soft and dirty but hopeful, nonetheless. However his young face did not detract from his role in this land.

He was a soldier, no doubt about it. The way he ran with such steadfastness, how his eyes narrowed in concentration and the way he dressed and the gear he wore gave it all away. He was a soldier of Humanity, a vanguard for freedom, a sentinel of hope. But more specifically, he was a Scout, a Legionnaire of the Scouting Legion. And with that title he had more responsibility, strength-in-heart, risk to his life, and insanity than most of his fellow raw recruits most of whom had joined the City Defense, the Stationary Guard. Although it was barely four months since he had graduated from his Trainee squad, already he had made one of the most important choices of his life, the Scouting Legion.

Trudging along, the man spat on the ground the bloody product of his incessant tongue biting habit.

"Damn it, I have got to stop biting my tongue." The man whimpered, touching his throbbing tongue with the tip of his calloused hand.

Signing out of frustration of the pain and annoyance, the man looked up to the sky. When the sun reached his amber orbs, his eyes widened in realization of how screwed he was.

"Oh crap! It's almost noon, I'm going to be late for muster." The man groaned as he shot forward.

Today would be his first expedition beyond the walls, but more importantly, his first time ever seeing the outside world. His heart was filled with both anxiety of facing the legendary Titans he heard about but also the excitement of the latter and of finally seeing what was beyond the veil of the mighty walls of old.

With newly found strength, the man painted an eager grin upon his face and press onward towards the outer gate down the street, directly ahead of him. As he passed another intersection the silence of the district was interrupted by the sounds of chirping. The sound startled the man causing him to stop next to a brick building along the tiered steps. Directing his weight on his arm, the man leaned against the cracked wall.

"What is that?" He questioned as he stopped before a row of barrels.

The chirping continued drawing the man's attention to his left. The noise was coming from behind a set of ale barrels across the alley. Totally forgetting his current crisis of reaching the outer gate before noon, the man walked up to the source of the noise and investigated. Moving a barrel, the man's gentle amber eyes meet the owner of the chirping's eyes.

His curiously puckered lips soon formed a soft grin as he gazed upon the tiny little noise maker.

It was a tiny little bird, a Kingfisher to be specific. Normally if it was any other boorishly loud bird someone might have overlooked it, but he did not. As the bird chirped, the man finally realized how lucky that bird was that he was there. The bird looked quite weak. Its body was frail and its strength wavered as it struggled to right itself up from where it was lying on the dirt floor. It was quite young, barely more than a hatchling. Its soft pink body was speckled with royal blue feathers and a unique lavender crest on its head that had just begun to sprout.

"Hey little guy, you okay? Why on Earth are you here of all places?" The young man asked bracing his arms on his knees and leaning towards the tiny life.

The bird looked up to the man, shivering for warmth. Picking it up, the dirty-haired Scout cradled the pinkie-sized bird in his hand.

"Where is your mother?" The man asked the tiny creature.

The tiny bird simply stared at the man with tiny, beady black eyes.

If someone were to look upon this exchange they would surely snicker and scoff at the eccentric and odd man. But that was what made him as he was. He was quite the bird lover. Whether it was exotic Parrots from the Southern Districts or the elegant Swans from the North, the man loved them. Occasionally, back at home in Karanese District he would get in major trouble with his family by setting their ducks free or spending the family savings on rescuing a Swan or Eagle from an abusive owner. But that was just one of many quirks the man had and talking to the bird was by far the least strange of them.

Standing up from his place in the dirt, the wide-eyed man scanned the area looking for the nest the bird presumably fell from. There it was, directly above him. Its straw and mud base hung securely from one of the roof gutters. Above, he heard even more chirping. He smiled brightly as he lifted the tiny bird up and plopped him gently back into the nest.

"Poor guy must have fallen during last night's rain." The man surmised as he dusted off his knees.

Walking away, the man waved at the bird that now stared at him from the edge of the nest. The nest the bird sat in had three other birds in it, a vibrant orange one, a sleepy golden one and a wise-looking brown one. All of them welcomed their cerulean brother back into the nest with chirps.

"Glad you are safe, little guy. Hope you grow up to be big and strong." The man smiled before running off back to his original goal.

The man must have forgotten about that bird as immediately as he found it for he had bigger things to worry about. The Titans, the expedition, his family, everything was spinning in his head. However, this cerulean bird had much more to it that anyone, even he could not imagine. And at that moment when he placed the bird back into its nest, he was linked.

* * *

It had been a few more intersections later since saving the Kingfisher and the man was nearing the gate. He had already passed several bystanders as he entered yet another tiered alley. The sun now loomed directly above him, dissolving all shadows. He was once again interrupted from the monotony of running by idle chatter and insults directed to him and the Scouting Legion, something about wasting lives and tax money. Their hellfire assault of words and dirty glares left the man unfazed for he had his mind solely focused on reaching the gate and his horse in time. Time was running out for the young Scout.

As he ran, once again his goal was diverted with the sounds of a foreign entity. This time it was not the sounds of chirping but the heart-wrenching cries of a child, a girl.

"A crying girl?" He uttered as he stopped in place, looking around.

Looking around, the young Scout located the source of the noise, a small side path between two brick buildings, shadowed with thatched straw. It was clear for the most part except for a large water barrel. Out of curiosity, the man approached the entrance of the side path.

"Hello, is someone there?" The man asked quietly, slowly approaching the alley entrance.

The crying continued, unyielding. The man's heart that was just filled with nervousness and fright of missing muster was now replaced with a new sadness, pain for whoever was crying at this moment. No one liked to hear children crying, that was for sure. His eyes drooped and his smile turned to a grimace as he entered the alley.

"Hello, are you hurt? Are you okay?" The man asked, gently.

This time he was answered.

"D-Daddy?" The female voice asked with hope.

He shook his head. "No."

He was not and that made him even sadder. Did she lose her father in the large crowd behind him? Did he die during the expedition last month? He needed to know. Looking behind the water barrel, the man found where the voice came from. Behind a water barrel, the blond man found the voice. A tiny little girl was curled around a broom, her head lay buried in her arms and her deep blue dress splotched with dirt.

"Why are you crying, little girl?" He asked kneeling before the small girl.

"I-I'm lost, I-I lost my daddy." The child cried, her sobs muffled in her arms.

"You lost him?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Well, don't cry. I'm sure he's here somewhere. Try to be brave." The Scout cooed, wiping the child's tears away.

"Okay, I-I'll try." She said, finally calming down.

"Okay then, your father, what does he look like?"

"He's big and tall, like you. Oh, and he has orange-brown hair, like mine but darker." She described, waving her hands wildly in the air to show how big her father was.

The Scout chuckled lightly at the girl's endearing demonstration.

"Where did you last see him?" The 19-year-old man asked.

"Well, we were visiting here from our home in Karanese when we got lost in the crowd. Now I can't find him." She sniffled.

"You're from Karanese?"

"Yeah, are you from there, too?" The girl asked with childlike curiously.

"Yes, I live there with my mother and father. We own an inn there."

The girl acknowledged the exchange of information by nodding but remained silent as she simply stared at the tall cloaked man.

"So why are you and your father here? It's awfully far from Karanese."

"We're here to see the Scouts!" The girl chimed, her eyes glittering like diamonds.

The man sighed with relief now that the child has finally stopped crying.

"You like the Scouting Legion?" He asked standing up and cocking his hips in pleasant surprise.

"I love them. They get to go out of the wall and kick Titan butt and... and no matter how badly they get beat, they always stay strong! Like Daddy!" The girl said punching the air in front of her.

The man smiled softly at the girl when he heard that. She was the first person that he heard actually say something kind about the Scouts. Even his own parents tried to discourage him from joining, saying it was like a bet with no chance of winning. But he was taking that risk and he knew full well the risks. That pressure although taken in stride did take a toll on him since he was their only child at this time. As the only child he had the responsibility of taking over the family inn when he retired from service.

"So you two were heading to the muster, I'm assuming?" He assumed.

"Yes, we were until we got separated in the crowd." She said with a frown.

"Well, I am heading there, too. Maybe we will find him there." The Scout suggested, holding out his hand for the young girl.

"You're heading there, too?" The girl asked.

"You bet. Check it out." The man said, twirling for her, showcasing his travel cloak and his Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear, or 3DMG for short.

"Wow, the Wings of Freedom! You... You're a Scout?" The girl asked, astonished as she pointed, at the man.

"That's right. And as a soldier, it is my duty to protect and help the small, like you." The man said, resting his hands on his hips.

The girl's eyes were stars as she stared in amazement at the man.

"Wow, so cool! You'll help me?" The girl squeaked.

"Yes, of course. It's what a soldier does." The man said, painting a proud smile.

"Yeah!" The girl shouted, leaping back onto her feet.

The man risked to time and quickly brushed off the dirt that clung to the girl's indigo dress and the leaves in her auburn hair.

"What is your name?" He asked as he held out his hand.

"Pe-Petra Ral." The small girl replied, resting her small hand on the palm of his much larger hand.

"Petra, hmm, that's a beautiful name you have there." The man smiled.

Her face flushed red. "T-Thanks." She uttered back, playing with her knee-length dress as she looked away out of embarrassment.

The man blinked, oblivious and confused of the girl's actions.

"How old are you, Petra?" The young man asked.

"Twelve."

"Twelve? You're awfully small for a twelve-year-old." The man said, shocked.

"Hey, I'm just a little small is all." She shot back, puffing her cheeks.

"Haha, that's not the only thing that's underdeveloped." He joked, referring to her childish behavior.

"Hmmph." The girl huffed.

"Alright, enough fooling around, let's find your dad." He said.

"Okie Dokie!" She replied.

And with that the odd pair exited the alley and ran down the main road, towards the Rally point. Passing bystanders and Stationary Guards alike, the two soon reached the edge of the crowd. Pushing their way through the Scout and the girl began to frantically shout.

"Mister Ral! Mister Ral, are you here? I have your daughter, Petra right here!" The man shouted.

No answer.

"Oi! Mister Ral, where are you? Your daughter is right here!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs.

Again, nothing but silence.

"Daddy! Daddy! I'm here. Where are you?!" Petra shouted as well.

Finally, someone responded.

"Petra! Petra, is that you?" A masculine voice called out from the front of the crowd.

"Daddy!" Petra shouted back letting go of the Scout's hand.

"Hey! Wait up! Come back here Petra. You might get hurt!" The young Scout shouted raising his for the girl.

She did not listen as she ran, disappearing into the crowd. She ran towards the front of the crowd where just beyond that stood dozens of mounted Scouts and wagons ready for the gate to open.

"Daddy!" The auburn-haired child cried as she leapt into her father's awaiting arms.

"Sweetie! Oh, I'm so relieved. I thought I lost you for good." The man whispered as he held his daughter tightly against his chest.

"Me too, Daddy. If it weren't for Big Brother I don't know what I would have done." She sniffled.

"Big Brother? Whose is that?" Her father asked, confused.

"He's the one that led me to you." Petra explained rubbing the tears from her cheeks.

"Petra, what did I tell you about talking to strangers, he might have kidnapped you or hurt you." He gently scolded her.

It was more of a worried talk if anything. The man looked as vicious and as hard as a bowl of rice pudding, but he was still worried.

"But daddy, he's a Scout. He even has the Wings of Freedom on his cloak. He's so cool." The child squeaked with stars in her eyes.

"So where is this 'Big brother' of yours?" He asked.

"Umm." She searched through the many towering faces until she spotted him. "Oh, there!" She said pointing to the blond-haired Scout that had accompanied her.

He had finally, after several punches to the gut and spits to the face reached the front of the crowd. His face was covered in mud, rotten cabbage and sweat, mostly sweat. He looked extremely tired. After all, he had been running for miles all day in the sweltering heat. The crowd turned their attention from the mustering Legionnaires to the young Scout and father-daughter pair. As he found his gaze upon her, he smiled with relief.

"There you are, Petra." He huffed, out of breath.

"Hey!" She waved.

"I thought I told you to wait for me." He scolded.

"I know, but I heard Daddy." She replied with sad, puppy eyes.

She stared him down, forcing him to avert his eyes to shield himself from her adorable gaze. His face heated up slightly out of embarrassment. Raising his chin high, he huffed.

"Well, if you found your father then I guess it's okay." The man gave in crossing his arms.

"Yeah, thanks Big Brother!"

"Big Brother?" The Scout asked, turning to her father.

"Your guess is as good as mine, young man." The father replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, Big Brother, this is my daddy." Petra said getting up and unraveling her vibrant blue dress.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Ral." The Scout said holding out his hand.

"Oh, thank you, young man. If it wasn't for you I might never have found my beloved Petra." The father smiled, widely, taking the young man's hand with appreciation.

"No problem, Sir. It is what a soldier does." The Scout said, forming the military salute.

The crowd began to mutter and whisper to themselves, thus drawing the attention of one of the squad leaders towards the center of the mustered formation.

"Oi! Recruit, you're late! Get over here; your horse and Squad are waiting." The Squad leader hollered from his mount in the center.

"Yes Sir!" The Scout shouted back before excusing himself from the crowd.

"Wait! I didn't get your name, Scout." The father said.

The man stopped, his eyes shadowed over his eyes. Turning the man walked back up to the little girl and her father.

"The name is Auruo, Auruo Bossard, Sir." The Scout said, flashing a proud grin.

"Auruo, huh? I'll remember the name." Petra's father smiled.

"Will we see you again Auruo?" Petra asked, innocently, eliciting a grimace from both men.

"Ano, Sweetie, umm." Her father nervously began to speak but was cut off by Auruo.

"I don't know Petra. I honestly don't know but here, you can have this in case you don't see me again." He said, unbuckled his travel cloak and handing it to the girl.

"Eh! Really?!" She squeaked taking hold of the oversized cloak.

"But of course. For being the Scouting Legion's biggest fan, you can have it. And don't worry I can get another one easily." Auruo smiled, ruffling the girl's orange hair.

_'If I survive.'_ He thought.

"Oh wow! Thanks Auruo, you're the best."

"You're welcome, Petra. Well, I should be going now; I need to meet up with my squad before we leave." Auruo said, pointing to his formed up squad, directly behind him on the left side of the formation.

"But of course. Farewell Auruo and thank you." The father said bowing to the man.

Auruo saluted the father and petted the auburn-haired girl's head.

"You are most welcome." He said before walking to his awaiting thoroughbred Stallion. "Oh, and Petra." He added.

"Yes!" The dangerously excited girl replied, hanging on tightly to the gifted cloak.

"I promise I'll see you again." He smiled.

"Promise?"

"Promise. Until we meet again, farewell." He said. Turning his head back he waved the girl goodbye before running towards his horse.

"Same to you Auruo! I won't forget you! Hope to see you again!" She smiled waving the cloak in the air and jumping excitedly.

Auruo smiled back one last time. His smile faltered for a moment in the realization that this could be his first and last expedition. That terrified him, but he bit the bullet and ran off, leaving the two behind.

* * *

"Hey, where the hell did you're cloak go?" The Squad Leader asked with an annoyed tone.

"I, um, I lost it." Auruo lied, looking back at the father-daughter pair as he mounted his horse.

"Tsk, rookie. Well, if you make it back alive we'll get you a new one." The Squad leader spat before turning to the front where the Legion Commander was at.

"Oh, boy, this will be something." Auruo sighed, his breath laden with anxiety and excitement for what lay beyond that Iron Gate.

"Yo, Auruo, hope you don't piss yourself." A young squad member with a white bandana joked as he slapped Auruo's shoulder.

"Don't worry about me Ness. I don't intend on crying or dying today." Auruo retorted.

"Oi, Cut the chatter you two, the Commander's speaking!" The Squad Leader shouted.

"Soldiers, rally forth! In this latest expedition Recon and Speed are our creed! So rally forth, rally forth and come with me. The time to move out is now!" The Commander screamed waving his blade in the air.

His horse reared up and groaned as the gate lifted with a screech, metal clang, hooves gritted against stone. As the massive and impenetrable gate lifted, it revealed the green, unknown landscape before them. That green sea that awaited Auruo was something he dreamed of, something magical. Hope.

_'This is it, the outside.'_ Auruo thought as he hugged the horse reins tightly_. 'I'm finally going beyond this prison of walls.'_

"Forward!" The Commander shouted.

The air was filled with the clang of horse hooves and shouts as the energetic scouts galloped forward, kicking up dust into the air. Dozens of Scouts and carts rode forth as they passed the gate to the world beyond the wall. As Auruo's squad made their way forth, Auruo couldn't help but feel sad. He thought back at what Petra said to him just a little while ago.

_"Hope to see you again!"_

Would he be able to do so? Could he really hope to survive and make it back home to his parents when the death percentage was 75% percent? Could he really meet Petra again, that adorable little girl he couldn't help but want to pinch her cheeks? Could he ever hope for anything in the unpredictable occupation he had chosen?

Of course not and he knew it. But he did not choose the Scouting Legion for stability, or even glory. He chose to hope even if it was useless. And hope he did. With new vigor and energy that would sustain him in this baptism of blood, he rode onward to an uncertain destiny. He looked back on last time as he rode under the raised gate at the smiling girl and her father.

She looked so happy and astonished as she watched her heroes ride onward, vanguards of Humanity. And as she waved directly at him he knew for some reason that he would meet her again, the girl with the blue dress. And with that thought he rode onward. With the sun above him and the wind against his face, he left the world he knew for a world devoid of safety but also free of entrapment. He would dream and he would hope, for he was Auruo Bossard, a Vanguard of Humanity.

_**...**_

_"__You and I will meet again, __when we're least expecting it, one day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won't say goodbye my friend, for you and I will meet again."_

**Chapter Song: One Summer's Day by Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away OST)**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading this chapter, I know it was not the most action packed chapter but the next chapter will be. Next chapter takes place four years later, when Petra is sixteen and on her first mission as a member of the Scouting Legion. Warning, there will be piss and death, but mostly piss in the next chapter so be prepared. Thank you.


	3. Rescued by a Nameless Bird

**Chapter Synopsis:** Thanks again for the support on chapter one, I appreciate it. Anyway, this next chapter takes place four years after Petra and Auruo's first meetings. Now sixteen, Petra is a newly fledged member of the Scouting Legion and gets a rough awakening during her first mission.

* * *

**The Kingfisher's Dream**

**Chapter Two**

**Rescued by a Nameless Bird**

* * *

Blood, it is a strange substance. How it slides off the emerald leaves above to pelt the forest floor below in crimson rain. How it pools into shiny, black puddles of viscous gore. How it slithers down the tree trunks like a vile, black serpent. It is strange, but more importantly it is a sign. It is a sign to all of fierce conflict, of chaotic battle, of inescapable death.

It is the drink of murky fatality.

That is what Petra Ral of Karanese thought as she sat there, stunned and fear-stricken in the forest clearing, drenched in evaporating, steaming Titan blood. Titan bodies surrounded the petite, sixteen-year-old like a palisade, rotting away. The morning sun had now finally penetrated the massive columns of steam emitting from the corpses of several dispatched Titans, allowing golden shafts of light through the iron-gray fog. Their decaying corpses melted upon the fern and grass with incredible speed, rendered into a brown, viscous sludge. As the mush snaked down the sloped glade, it boiled into nothing from whence it came until not even the skeletons remained.

Standing shakily back up from her place in the grass, the auburn-haired girl watched, still shell-shocked, as her squad leader and several other of her squad mates rode towards her through the steam. Their cloaks were stained in blood as well and their twin blades chipped from overuse. Wiping his blades to a sheen, the Senior Scout spoke up.

"Oi, Petra! Are you alright?!" The Squad Leader spat, stopped his horse but a few feet from her.

"Y-Yeah, I-I think I'm okay." She said, rubbing her bruised arm.

"_Aa yokatta_, would hate to have lost another recruit." The Squad Leader commented.

"You're lucky we made it in time or else you would have been long dead." One of the scouts said.

"Yes sir, sorry sir." She replied, bowing before the other scouts.

The Scout had an understanding smile across his face as he nodded. He too was new once and knew full well the mistakes and trials all new Legionnaires face, especially during their first mission.

"Don't worry about it Petra, once we get back to base you'll feel better." The Scout smiled.

"Yes Sir!" She smiled back, weakly.

"Still, it was pretty stupid of you to disobey direct orders and try to outrun those Aberrants." Another scout spoke up, earning a few head nods in agreement.

"Tsk, damn straight. Fucking rookies always risking our lives by being stubborn jerkoffs." One Scout spat with hate.

"Ease up, Gerger! It's her first time out beyond the walls!" Another Scout shot back.

"Shut your trap, Nanaba! You always have to shelter these damn newbies!" The Scout spat back at the woman.

"_Urasai! _Enough you two! Cut the chatter and fall back in line." The Squad Leader ordered with a roar.

"Yes Sir." The two scoffed, shooting dirty looks at each other before reining their horses behind the Squad Leader.

"Sorry." Petra sighed, her shoulders slouching in shame.

The man sighed.

"_Mattaku. _It's your first mission so I'll let it pass, but next time I won't be so lenient. Now mount up and head forward, the other squads are assembling beyond the forest's edge. So hurry up and get ready. We're heading back home." The Squad Leader groaned before ushering his horse towards the forest.

"Yes Sir!" Petra shouted back.

"Better not piss your pants, newbie." Gerger spat.

"Yes Sir!" She shouted, shamed.

With that her squad mates rode off disappearing into the forest's darkness across the glade, leaving the auburn-haired girl alone in the steam. Standing alone in the gray shadow of the evaporating Titans, she spat onto the ground and sighed, defeated.

"Great." She uttered sarcastically, out of breath.

Turning on her heel, the sixteen-year-old Scout walked solemnly back to her awaiting ride. Her back slouched and her head hung low with hurt and disappointment in herself from what had just happened. As she stood beside her awaiting horse, she heard the metallic shot of a smoke round in the distance. Turning to her right, the girl saw the blue smoke column shot high into the blue sky, signifying withdraw. The assembling squads beyond the forest of the South have already begun to move, leaving the teenager very little time to delay. Mounting her brown steed, the young scout began her ride in the same direction as her fellow squad mates that had now disappeared into the emerald sea beyond.

_'Keep calm, just a few miles to go until I'm out of this infernal forest.'_ She thought as she bounced upon her galloping horse.

Entering the forest's emerald edge, the sounds of the forest sung as one. A chorus of songbirds chirped. A sea of vermin chattered above as the horse's speed slowed to a canter, allowing the scout to scan the surrounding forest for approaching Titans and to avoid pitfalls that might very well incapacitate or even kill Petra's ride. And a horseless scout is very much a dead one. She rode onward down the path to the amber light at the end of the path, the exit of the forest and safety.

* * *

**Later**

As Petra rode on, passing the tall, broad redwoods, a steady, high-pitched noise and an underlying rumbling could be heard from her flanks and her rear. It was drawing closer and faster.

"What is that noise?" Petra questioned as she stopped her horse.

Waiting, the noise grew louder and quicker in its gait. No longer was it a distant rumble. It was now a flood of drums, of hooves clicking, or paws pattering. As she waited upon a fallen elder tree, hoping for the high-pitched echoing to stop, she noticed something. Something was going on around here besides the unseen sounds approaching from three sides, something bad.

_The forest grew silent._

It was not the lively and active forest it was but moments ago. The chorus of bird calls and squirrel chirps and squeaks had died. It became disturbingly quiet. Only the distant, frequent beat of something to her right, left and rear graced her ears. They were drums, drums in the emerald shadow veil marshalling forward whatever entities stalked just out of sight of Petra's gaze. As the drums slowly increased in volume and strength, shadows moved forth. Looking to her right, Petra noticed something, something dark approaching from a hilltop, swarming towards her at a rapid pace.

"What in the world?" She uttered, squinting to see what large mass approached.

A black and brown mass slithered forth towards her, clinging heavy upon the soft moss like a mist. It approached very fast, forming over the sloped, green mounds and fallen logs.

"What the hell is that?!" She screamed as she rallied her horse onward, away from what shadowed form.

She turned to her left and saw another swarm come from the east. She then turned to her rear, the north and saw an even greater swarm. It was taller, dark shadows galloped forth like a herd of wild horses. They all were shadows under blacken foliage.

"What?!" She cried out causing her horse to rear up.

The three swarms then collapsed into a single grand one, bolting towards her from the north, directly behind her.

Cold sweat fell from her like rain. Fear welled up from her chest and made her shiver with a cold terror. She froze as the newly amassed snakelike swarm barreled towards her like a demonic Boar God. As it approached, her training kicked in.

She didn't need to think twice. Fumbling with the saddle pouch she grabbed what she was looking for. She pulled out a noise grenade. Attaching it to her flare pistol, she fired it at the approaching swarm. The explosion of compressed air resounded throughout the forest, splitting the mass in two.

But it continued, unyielding, unchallenged.

"Come on, go!" She shouted, kicking her ride.

But the horse did not inch forward.

"Come on, let's go, we have to go, now!" She pleaded to deaf ears.

"Shoot!" She hollered, unsheathing her twin blades in preparation for the inevitable attack.

It continued.

"Okay buddy! Come at me bro!" She shouted, raising one blade over her head and the other in front of her.

The swarms neared and neared.

She swallowed hard, losing that hard lump that choked her. She was not mentally ready for battle but she had no choice. She was a ready as she could for this. But as soon as she had whipped out her blades, she was once again caught off guard. This time, it was not the pale hand of a Titan busting through a blackened corner. It was the lost sound of a chorus up ahead.

_'What the hell?' _She thought as the swarm drew for her.

As the twin swarms made contact with her position, their identity was revealed. Through the golden shafts of light that beamed down from above, the bodies of the swarm came into clear view. These were not the screams and bodies of monsters, but rats, mice, voles, and other vermin of the forest. There were Deer and Antelope as well all galloping forward from the rear of the horde. All of them were the shadows that galloped and scampered forward. All squeaking and chattering in panic. They were a sea of vermin and higher creatures, bolting towards her. But then they ran past the horse and a shocked Petra, racing down the same forest path Petra was going down. It seemed the entire forest's fauna population was running, no fleeing.

They were indeed fleeing, but from what?

"Why are they all running?" She asked aloud, lowering her blades, confused.

She scratched her head in confusion of what had just happened. Sighing, she sheathed her blades and reined her horse.

"Jeez, got to get a hold of myself." She whispered.

It seemed the pseudo-danger had left, fleeing in the same direction she was heading, south. She rallies her horse onward and continued down the path again, shaken but alert. What she did not realize was that the rumbling from the interior of the forest did not waver.

It was not the swarm's doing.

* * *

**Later On**

It had been about ten minutes later since her encounter with the swarm and yet the forest remained silent. She knew something was up, yet she could not dwell on that thought. All that was on her mind was getting out of this accursed forest alive. As her horse continued at a canter something caught the sixteen-year-old by surprise. A massive tremor broke through the ground, sending the girl flying off her horse.

"Ahh!" She cried out, landing in the thick mud.

When she finally pulled her face from the slimy ground, panic once again struck her in the gut. Her horse was running off, leaving her in the imprisoning mud.

"Wait! Come back, please!" She cried out, her hand reaching out for her steed.

It did not listen. It continued to gallop off, leaving her to her fate.

"Oh god, what do I do?" She uttered, laying in the sticky mud.

She sat there for a while, contemplating her next move. As she lay there, she felt the tremors from before. A puddle beside her sent a splash jumping up with every beat.

It drew closer, what entity marshalled behind her.

"Titans?!" She panics, crawling out of the mud, her gear clogged and useless.

She turned to the sound of the noise, several distant peach-colored figures could be seen running towards her. They were silent except for the footsteps in their approach.

"Shit! Titans!" She screamed.

Taking a fallen purple smoke round from the ground, she fired it into the air, desperate for backup. Would it come in time? Or would she be but another statistic? Her heart beat against her ribcage, ushering her to run. And run she did. Yanking out her triggers, she attempted to fire her grapples up into the treetops. It failed to fire. The groaning of the metal fan clanging against the mud spoke of doom and failure. Her gear was jammed.

"Oh shit! No! No no no no! It can't be jammed, give me a damn break!" She screamed.

She fired again and again and every time it came up with the same response, a wheezing no. She gave up and began sprinting down the path, desperate to get away. As she ran, she turned around and realized the Titans were gaining speed. They had smelt her, growing into a frenzy. They were but a few hundred meters away, only a thirty second distance with their speed.

"Oh God!" She screamed, running for her life. Her tears blinding her vision. As she ran, the rumbling grew louder until it was but meters from her. The light from the sun above was shadowed by the Titan's bulk, covering her in gloomy death.

It was right above her, the lead Titan, a 12-meter class.

She dared to look back at it.

"Ahh!" She screamed as her eyes ascended to lock with the titan's squinted eyes and it's grotesquely elongated smile.

It groaned happily at her as it reached out one of its massive, fleshy hands to grab her. If it did, she was dead.

Slash!

She swung one of her blades, severing the Titan's index and middle fingers. The Titan withdrew its hand and slammed it hard into the mud, shattering the ground and sending the auburn-haired girl down the path a few dozen meters. Her face once again made contact with sticky mud.

"Urkkk! Yackkk!" She gagged as she spat up mud and blood. "Ow! I-I, my arm." She cried.

She had fallen on her arm. The hot flash of agony shot up her arm to her brain, causing her to gasp and scream.

"AHHH! Fuck, my arm!" she screamed, sprawling on the ground.

She was curled up on the ground and in pain, tired and beaten. Turning her head to the side she saw the Titan and three others barrel down towards her. Their pink frames growing larger with every second and every stride of their massive legs.

"This is it. I'm going to be eaten." She cried, clenching her eyes shut with tears leaking out.

The rumbling grew and grew and grew until it stopped. She dared not to open her eyes but she felt their lumbering, towering presence above her, drawing closer to take her.

"I'm sorry Papa. I won't come home." She sobbed.

As she waited for the long feared feeling of a grasp of a Titan's hand she sighed. "This is it."

But what she didn't expect was the distinct whizz of a 3DMG in overdrive pulsing from down the path from where the squads were assembling.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" A thunderous voice roared from the forest beyond the path.

"What?" Petra uttered, flicking her eyes open.

"Hey BRAT! GET UP NOW!" The voice commanded.

She did so, and all her strength, she shot up from the mud, caked in brown but alive.

Looking up she saw the unimaginable. A fountain of crimson shot out of the front Titan's neck as a blurred, green speck shot with incredible speed from one tree to the other across the path. A trail of white gas blew behind the green speck as it grappled to the next tree.

"What?!"

The Titan fell dead with a massive thud.

'One down and three to go.' Petra's cloaked rescuer thought as he landed on the tree, across the path.

"Run ahead, kid! I got you covered!" The man shouted waving his sword in the direction of the assembling squads.

She back away, stricken with fear and awe.

"RUN GODDAMNIT!" The Scout spat.

"O-Okay!" She shouted back, before staggering forward, clutching her arm.

She ran as best as she could but the pain incapacitated her, sending her to the mud once again. As she fell, her hood fell over her head, concealing her frightened face.

"Damn it all! Hang on, Brat. I'm coming!" The man shouted, grappling the next nearing Titan.

Turning back, Petra saw the next Titan crouch towards her, its eyes wide and its mouth dripping in anticipation. As she sat there, frozen with fear, she noticed the faceless scout zip pass the Titan from behind, leaving a splash of maroon in his wake. The Titan bellowed in pain before collapsing like a felled tree, but centimeters from her feet.

"Two more!" He shouted. "Get up!" He ordered.

The Scout spun wildly in the air, using the gas's propulsion and his momentum to swing high into the air. He shot one of his grappling hooks into the ground in front of the last two Titans, using it as a pendulum to zip behind them.

"Wow! He's so fast!" She uttered, her eyes widened with awe before wrenching in pain.

Drawing on the momentum of his latest attack, the Scout swung with the wire he shot into the ground and spun behind the last two Titans. Raising both blades above his head, the man detached them from the trigger-grips and launched them full speed at the two Titans' napes. The blade projectiles hit their mark, biting through the Titan's soft flesh, killing both, simulatiously. The path was filled with steam as the last two Titans fell.

* * *

Laying on the ground, the girl watched as a darkened figure walked, tiredly out of the steam and into a pillar of amber, noon light. The Scout's cloak was stained with blood and mud and his face covered in his hood.

"Tsk, damn monsters." He spat. Blood dripped from his mouth.

"Are you okay? You're bleeding." Petra asked, worried.

"Yeah, just bit my tongue is all." The man said, wiping his mouth clean.

"Your tongue?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty bad habit of mine." He said.

"Goodness, what a relief. I thought I got you hurt." She said, her voice low and saddened.

"What are you doing here all by yourself?" The Scout asked, wiping his blades clean.

"I-I fell off my horse." She said, her face flushed in embarrassment.

"It's your first mission, isn't it?" He deadpanned, cocking his hips.

"Yeah... OW!" She wrenched in pain, clutching her left arm.

"Oi, what's wrong?" He asked, kneeling next to the sixteen-year-old girl.

"It's my arm, Sir. I think it's broken." Petra remarked.

"Let me see." He demanded, his voice soft and gentle, far from the fierce shouts he had exuded only moments ago.

She allowed him access to her injured arm.

He began pressing his index and middle fingers gently against her skin along where the bone was. As he neared the center of her forearm, she wrenched in pain.

"Ahh!" She cried.

"I see, well it looks like you got a fractured forearm. Nothing too serious but we better get a splint on that, pronto." He suggested.

"Okay." She replied.

As he held her cold, injured arm in his hand, he spoke up again. "Hey, I need you to take your cloak off so it's won't in the way." The man ordered.

"Okay." She agreed.

"Hmm, this cloak looks awfully old for a recruit. Where did you get this? Most recruits get freshly tailored ones." He said.

"Well, when I was twelve, this nice Scout gave me it for being the Scouting Legion's biggest fan. So I joined the Legion and keep it as my uniform." She smiled.

_'Hold on, that sounds awfully familiar.' _He thought, his heart quickening ever slightly.

Taking off her hood, the man's eyes grew wide. Her short, orange-colored hair was freed once again, bathed in amber light. As she unbuckled her cloak and handed it to the man.

_'Wait! Hold on. Is that...'_ He thought.

"Here you go, Sir." She offered her cloak.

Taking it, he hugged it tightly against his chest, his eyes wide in revelation.

"Petra?"

"Yes? How do you know my name?" She asked.

He removed his own hood, revealing his face. The man was in his early twenties, twenty-three to be exact. His sandy-colored hair was unkempt and tousled, a style of a man who gave no moment or thought of his appearance. He had not changed much, appearance wise in four years. He smiled at her, a familiar smile.

"Don't you recognize me?" He asked, his heart fluttering with excitement of finally seeing that lost, little girl he promised he'd see again.

The girl looked at him confused and shook her head. He looked awfully familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint it. She had forgotten.

"No, sorry. I don't think so. Maybe you're mistaking me for someone else." She explained, politely.

His heart sank at that moment. His smile faded as he lowered his gaze to the cloak in his arms. He sighed.

_'She forgot me?' _He thought.

"Aren't you Petra Ral?" He asked, desperately.

"Yes."

"But you don't recognize me?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Can you remind me?" She asked.

_"She doesn't remember me.'_ He thought.

"Forget it." He scoffed.

"Wait, but you know me right?"

"Most have mistaken you for another I guess." He sighed.

"Oh, I guess that happens a lot, right?"

"I guess so. So forget what I said then."He said, somberly.

"Okay." She said, her face now etched into a smile.

_'She sure is a forgetful one.' _He moaned, inwardly.

He sighed again and went to work.

Taking the cloak, the man formed a splint with several sticks. Stabilizing the forearm, the two stood up from the mud and walked into the light of the path.

"Thanks, Sir!" She said, smiling.

"No problem, shorty." He smiled.

"Hey! I'm not short, I'm just a little underdeveloped, is all." She pouted.

_'This seems way too familiar.'_ He thought.

He let out a light chuckle as he looked upon the short, petite girl.

"What's so funny?" She groaned.

"Nothing, just a little Déjà Vu, is all." He laughed.

She puffed her cheeks in annoyance, a habit of hers.

As he turned back to her, his heart softened.

Her face was warm and glowing with life. It was a far cry from the fear stricken face that was etched on her face but a few minutes ago. As the two stared at each other, the man turned away, his face red in embarrassment.

'Fuck, she's too cute.' He whispered. It was not in attraction or anything. She was just too damn cute for a soldier. Still just a goofy, innocent kid.

"So, what do we do now? I lost my horse." She asked, her eyes now filled with worry.

He sighed, the warm feeling now gone and filled with reality.

"I have my horse nearby, so we'll have to share." He said.

He then turned away from her and whistled loudly. A few moments later, a large brown horse emerged from the foliage and galloped towards the two scouts.

"Aye, there you are Saladin! Glad you didn't run off on me." The Scout chortled, running his hand through the stallion's mane.

"Thank goodness, I thought we were doomed." She sighed, relieved.

"Well, hop on, it's time to go. The squads won't wait forever." He offered, turning towards the short girl.

Turning back to help her onto the horse, the man noticed something, something quite embarrassing. Petra's pants were soaking wet, and it wasn't from the mud.

"Ano, did you just piss yourself?" He asked, stepping back from the girl in disgust.

"EH!" She cried out, her face burning with redness.

He pointed down to her crotch. She looked down, her face beet red. A large part of her white pants were soaked, from her zipper down to her mid thigh.

"KYAA!" She screamed, covering herself with her good hand.

"Oi! Stop screaming Petra, you'll attract even more Titans." The Scout demanded.

"Sorry. I-I just... I didn't know I had wet myself." She whimpered, embarrassed beyond belief.

"How could you not know that?!" The Scout asked, confused.

"Well, I was busy running away from Titans!" She shot back, defensively.

"Fair enough." He groaned.

"Stop staring!" She demanded.

"What?! I wasn't looking. Who do you think I am?" He questioned, his face equally red.

"I don't know! Just turn around." She ordered.

"Fine." He said, pulling his hood over his eyes to mask his blush.

* * *

A few moments of awkward silence ensued. Only the sounds of cicadas, buzzing in the trees keep the world from breaking into shattering silence. As the two stood a trembling was felt. It was coming from down the path in the direction they were heading.

"More Titans?" Petra asked, panicked.

"No. It's some more scouts." He confirmed, pointing to the six cloaked figures galloping towards them.

"Wait, that's my squad!" She cheered. "They came to rescue us."

"Oi! Petra. We got your smoke signal." The Squad Leader shouted in the air, leading the five others.

The six scouts stopped but meters from her, mirroring the same instant that morning. They mounted frames towered over Petra and her nameless rescuer.

"Are you alright?" One of the scouts, Nanaba asked.

"Yeah, I-I'm okay." Petra confirmed. "Thanks to him." She smiled, weakly, pointing to the hooded Scout.

"That is correct."

"_ Sugoi_, nice work." The Squad Leader praised.

"Petra! What happened to your arm?!" A Scout howled.

"I fractured my forearm."

"Klutz." One Scout spat.

The others nodded.

"Fucking damn it. Twice today you needed rescuing." Gerger growled.

"Ease up Gerger, this isn't the place for this." Nanaba scolded.

He huffed in resignation.

"Hey, Petra, what's that on your pants?" One Scout asked.

She froze and her heart raced.

_'Oh, no they saw!'_ She screamed inside.

"Did you piss your pants?" Another Scout began to laugh.

The others soon joined in, minus the Squad Leader.

"Typical rookie. I knew you'd piss your pants eventually. Gerger snickered.

"I'm sorry Petra, It's just too funny." Another Scout snorted.

"I-I." Petra whimpered, covering herself in shame.

She felt so incredibly small, so embarrassed. She was sixteen-years-old, how could she have wetted herself. Shame boiled inside her, ready to burst in the form of tears. As tears formed, she was ready to cry when the painful laughter ceased with a booming cry.

"ENOUGH!" A voice called out.

The laughing scouts ceased. Cold sweat beads dripped from them, anxious and tense. They and turned to the instigator of the noise, Petra's unnamed rescuer.

"I pissed myself too, it that a problem?" The Scout demanded, removing his hood.

"Platoon Leader?!" They all uttered in unison.

"I asked, is me pissing my pants a problem, too?" The man asked, his voice dangerously low.

They looked down and saw that his pants were soaked as well.

"The Platoon Leader pissed himself, too?!" One scout whispered.

"Oi, everyone shut up!" The Squad Leader ordered.

"I'll ask again. Is me pissing myself a problem for you all?"

"No, no problem Auru-!"

"That's Platoon Leader to you." He sneered.

"Y-Yes _Taichou_!" The Squad leader stammered.

"Is it a problem?"

"No Platoon Leader!" They all shouted.

"Then it is no problem for her than, am I correct?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Good, now wipe those smirks of your face and move out." He snapped.

The squad all nodded vigorously as to not incur the wrath of the sandy-haired Platoon Leader.

"Now, get back to the assembling area. We shall join you shortly." The Platoon Leader spat.

"Yes Sir!" Petra's squad shouted before bolting back down the forest path.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the Platoon Leader turned to Petra.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah thanks."

"For what?"

"For standing up for me."

"Don't mention it."

"Did you really piss yourself, too?" She asked, nervously.

"No." He deadpanned.

He held out a canteen, an empty canteen.

"You, you spilled it on yourself?!"

"Yes, I know what it's like to be in your situation, to be the only one that wet themselves." He groaned.

"So you lied to protect me."

"Yes."

Silence took a hold for a bit before Petra responded.

"Thanks" She smiled, her face a tint of pink.

"Whatever." He grimaced.

_'If only you remembered me.'_ He sighed.

Come on, get on. We've lingered here for too long." He said.

"Right." She agreed, hopping onto the horse.

"Okay, hang on tight, we're going at a full gallop." He explained.

"Yes Sir!" She replied.

The forest began to speak again, the songs of birds and squirrels returned, signifying that safety had returned to the forest.

"Rally Saladin, Let's go!" He shouted, ushering his horse onward.

Now at a full gallop, the two rode off from the decaying remains of the Titans down the path towards the awaiting.

"Say, I didn't catch your name. What is it?" Petra asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It's Aur—never mind it. We're in the middle of Titan territory I can't waste my time on trivial matters." He snarked.

"Oh, okay." She grimaced.

He sighed.

"It's pretty lucky for you to have made it this far." The Scout said.

"Why?"

"You're pretty clumsy." He smiled.

"Hey, I am not!" She pouted, her good arm wrapped around his waist.

"Are too. How did you fall off your horse?"

"Um, the ground shook and... my horse hates me." SHe groaned.

"Tsk, what a brat!" He laughed.

"Hey! That's not nice. You're mean." She said, puffing her cheeks with irritation.

"I never said I was." He chuckled.

"Whatever, I'm glad you came when you did. Thanks." She said.

"N-Never mind it. But you're welcome. You're alive so the chore of me telling your father you got eaten for is gone. He would be quite upset with me if I did." He snickered.

"Yeah." She said, letting the cool forest breeze calm her nerves.

"Alright, enough chit-chat, we better pick up the pace if we don't want to be left behind." He suggested.

_'She hasn't changed at all. Good.'_ He thought.

And with that they rode onward, double time trailing behind the rest of Petra's squad.

The two scouts continued onward, galloping down the woodland's earthen path, towards the amber gate of light leading to the forest's edge. As they galloped down the mud and silt, Petra clung tightly to her nameless rescuer, shamed but also relieved that she had survived her first expedition with many more ahead of her. But as she clung to her rescuer, she couldn't help but feel a familiar feeling. How he talked, how he looked and how he comforted her reminded her of someone she met before, but who? Who was this man?

...

_"With these torn wings known to all, I fly forth. With these twin blades forged by one, I defend all. With this hardened heart common to all, I shelter one but always, my name, forgotten."_

**Chapter Song(s):** **Z by Hiroyuki Sawano (Zombie-Loan)**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well that's it for this chapter. Stay tuned for next week's one set a few days later, a continuation of this chapter where Petra finally remembers who the nameless rescuer is. This is Sachi-Sensei signing out.


	4. I Remember You

**Chapter Synopsis: **Thanks again for the support with the latest chapter and shout out to **lenokiie **for reviewing every time I have updated. It really gives it me the motivation to continue this, thank you so keep it up my friend. Anyway, this next chapter takes place a few days later, after the Scouting Legion returns to back where Petra finally remembers who Auruo is (A.K.A Platoon Leader/_Taichou _to his subordinates and Petra).

* * *

**The Kingfisher's Dream**

**Chapter Three**

**I Remember You**

* * *

_**FLASHBACK**_

_"HOLD ON!" Auruo's voice boomed as he rappelled down from the treetops._

_As he rappelled downward from the high Redwoods, he raised his blades high behind his back and spun rapidly, gaining power and momentum for his strike. Making contact with the mighty Titan's neck with his foot, he swung himself like a spinning top and with his blades left a splash of maroon in his wake._

_"DIE!" He shouted, blasting the air with his voice._

_The Titan groaned in agony as it fell to the ground with a thud. It's severed nape pulsing steaming blood onto the dried, bristling grass. Leaping off the Titan's head, Auruo shook the blood from his cloak and sauntered towards the abdomen of the now deceased Titan._

_"Tsk, you got my cloak all filthy." He spat._

_Slicing at the Titan's belly, the sandy-haired man stuck his arms deep into the Titan's bloodied cavity and yanked out a strange, yellowish cocoon._

_"Oi! Auruo, Daijoubu ka?" The Squad Leader asked, yielding his horse but a few paces away._

_"Yes, yes. I'm fine Sachi." Auruo assured the hooded Scout._

_"You should have waited for backup before engaging, Sir." He said._

_"I know that, I don't need my subordinates telling me what I already know." He spat, still bitter for how the Squad Leader's troops treated Petra earlier that morning._

_"Wakarimashita, Taichou." The Squad Leader replied._

_"Besides, I couldn't just let it get away after swallowing one of the recruits, now could I?" He argued, wiping at the yellow goo that enclosed the unconscious Scout._

_"Well hurry up, Sir. We cannot linger. We need to get back into formation. The rest of the Legion is already entering the final leg of the withdrawal." Squad Leader Sachi said._

_"Sure. Get one of the carts up here. Once we load this guy up, then we'll link back with the rest of the Cart Squads." Auruo said, standing up._

_"Hai." The Squad Leader answered._

_"And bring me my horse as well."_

_The Squad Leader nodded and rode on._

_"Hai, Taichou."_

* * *

_**An Hour Later**_

_The noon sun was ablaze with gold fire as it rained unbearable heat down upon the sparse woodland and glades. The rumbling of dozens of horse carts, horses and wagons shook the ground as the Legion left the death-soaked forests behind for the exposed and treacherous savannah of the Northeast, their destination, Wall Maria to the South. The formation was scattered over a four-square mile area, all within seeing distance of one another's squad. As the Legion traversed the golden ground, an air of tense anticipation and worry shrouded the Legion in shadowed anxiety._

_The gold grass was beautiful but it also marked a deathtrap._

_Traversing the plains was a gamble at best, and the Legion Commander knew it. But he knew it also was the fastest route back to allied lines. They could see for miles, with only isolated pocket forests shielding any threats that may arise. Some expeditions, the Legion would see little to no Titans at all as they retreated back behind the walls, other times the Legion would be embattled with wave after wave of the monstrous giants._

_They did not know it yet, but this was one of those times._

_The Legion was nearing the Walls now. With such a flat landscape and with few trees ahead of them, they could see for many miles ahead. Half an hour more and they would finally reach the safety of the Walls._

_Towards the rear right flank, Auruo and his Platoon were trailing behind by a good a mile or so, from his earlier rescue of one their fledged recruits. Riding next to the rickety cart where Petra and the other injured Scouts rested, he kept an eye out for any sign of Titan activity or red flares._

_He was quiet and tense as his eyes scanned around._

_'Nothing. That's good, very good.' He thought as he turned back to the cart._

_His scowl turned to the smallest of smirks as he watched Petra fidgeting innocently with a roll of bandages._

_"Hey, Petra." He asked her, his voice barely louder than a whisper._

_"What is it?" She replied, her big amber eyes turning to him._

_"How are yo—umm, how is he doing?" He stammered._

_"He's fine. Good thing the Titan only tried to swallow him and not chew, huh?" She answered, placing a wet rag on the unconscious Scout's forehead._

_"That's good." He said._

_"It is."_

_"How is your arm?" He asked, clinging tightly to his Stallion, Saladin._

_"It's okay, it still hurts but not as much, thanks." She replied._

_"And your pants?" He joked._

_"Hmmph, for your information, they are perfectly dry now." She pouted, crossing her arms._

_He chuckled lightly. "Good to know."_

_"And yours?" She smiled._

_"It was just water so it won't leave any stains, if you know what I mean." He grinned._

_The two laughed along before their lighthearted banter faded with the fog of war and tension drowning them both._

_He turned away again, scanning the surrounding land for the slightest disturbance. Finding none, he turned back._

_"Say, Platoon Leader. Now that things have quieted down, mind telling me your name again. I know you know me from something before so can you please tell me?" She asked, her eyes pleading the same question once more._

_His scowl returned. He sighed._

_"Tsk, forget it. It's not important." He scoffed, wiping his lips._

_'Just tell her, Auruo. She's as lost as a peasant in the Royal Palace.' He thought, conflicted within himself._

_"Why not?" She pressed._

_"Because, it would mean nothing if I just told you who I was. You have to find out it on your own if anything is to have meaning." He argued._

_She remained silent, slouching back against the side of the cart. It looked as if she had given up._

_"Fine, whatever." She sighed._

_'Idiot, just remind her. Don't be so stubborn.' He scolded himself._

_He sighed._

_As Auruo was about to turn around, a Scout next to Petra shot up from the floor and screamed, pointing to the right._

_"Platoon Leader! I see Titans!" She screamed._

_"WHAT?!" Auruo shouted, his semi-relaxed state shattered as action kicked in. Turning his head swiftly in the direction of the Scout's finger, his breath froze._

_In the distance, a mile away, three Titans, a four-meter class, a ten-meter class and a twelve-meter class sprinted directly towards them. The pink and tan figures wobbled and staggered towards them; the distance between them and Auruo's platoon was narrowing, dangerously fast._

_"Shit! Cart Driver, shoot a flare!" Auruo boomed, ordering the blonde Scout in front of him._

_"Yes Sir."_

_A red flare shot up high into the air. Looking forward Auruo's ocher eyes were besieged with dozens of similar pillars from the rest of the Legion._

_"Platoon! Double time, we need to catch up with the rest of the Legion!" Auruo shouted at the top his lungs._

_"Yes Sir!" A chorus of voices behind him hollered._

_Increasing their speed, the platoon quickly shortened the distance between them and the Legion. Barely a soccer field away, even more Titans chased after them._

_"Platoon Leader! More Titans from the Northwest!" One Scout shouted._

_Turning right again, he saw at least a dozen more join the three previous. They were gaining speed once more._

_"It's a damn horde! Damn it all!" He spat._

_Whipping out his blades he waved one high into the air, above his head._

_"First Squad, with me! We shall intercept the enemy!"_

_"Yes Sir!" The Scouts cheered._

_"Wait! Sir, that's suicide! Can't we just outrun them?" Petra questioned, her hair flapping in the wind with fear._

_"Judging by their angle of travel, they'll intercept our path very soon. And Titans in the middle of the formation will scatter us to death." Auruo argued._

_"But—."_

_"Enough Petra, I appreciate your concern. But I'll be okay, just rest. The carts will link with the center of the formation where it's safe."_

_"But you could die!" She shot back._

_A bead of sweat fell from his temple._

'_She's right. I could die today, but, but if I don't go then they'll breach our line and she'll be in danger. I can't let that happen.' He thought._

_"I know Petra, but it's all part of the job." He said._

_"But!"_

_"But nothing! If we don't intercept them now then the rest of the Legion will be a bloodbath. Now steel yourself." He shouted back, riding of, rallying Petra's Squad to follow him._

_"First Squad with me!"_

_"Wait!" She hollered._

_He ignored her._

_He pushed his fears, his sickening doubts behind him as he marshaled forward. Waving his blade in the air he rallied his men onward. Breaking that shadow of tense anticipation that had loomed overhead, he sounded the horn of action. Blowing the whistle tied around his neck, he pushed forward. Outnumbered, he and his steed rode onward, true and steadfast. With his men at his back and the Titans, that wall of flesh before him, he closed his eyes._

_He would not die today. He could not and would not._

* * *

_**Later**_

_The crackle of covering fire from the Wall's cannons roar through the air, exploding just behind the bloodied, battered Legion. As solid lead balls scorched through the air past the retreating Legion, they blasted the pursuing Titans apart. As they shattered into the flesh of the Titans, the Titans were sent flying back giving enough breathing room for the bloodied and dwindled Legion to retreat behind the raised Iron Gate._

_The trickle soon became a flood as cart after cart, full of wounded Legionnaires rode under the raised gate into safety._

_"Lock it down! Seal it tight!" The Gate Master bellowed from atop the watch tower._

_The Iron Gate then fell with a thunderous boom as the last straggler rode in to meet the cool breeze of safety. The Iron Gate fell and locked in place; the Titans would not get in now._

_"Yabai! Damn that was close." The Squad Leader groaned, panting but alive._

_"You're right about that." Another Scout said, gagging from the lack of air in his lungs._

_"Damn it Auruo. You nearly got killed back there! You have got to stop straggling behind." The Squad Leader scolded._

_"I know, but if no one engaged those Aberrants then we would have scattered." Auruo shot back, wiping his brown clean._

_The raven-haired squad leader sighed, tired._

_"Kuso, fair enough, but next time you won't be so lucky." The Squad Leader smirked._

_"Whatever Sachi." Auruo moaned. "Let's just get the wounded to HQ and get something to drink."_

_"Hear, hear. I could use a glass after today." Squad Leader Sachi smirked._

_"Well then let's go!" One Scout eagerly rejoiced._

_"You guys go on ahead. I'll see to it that the wounded get to HQ." Auruo suggested, riding forward._

_"Hey! Bastards! How was the damn mission?! Were our sons and daughters' lives worth it?!"_

_"Monsters! You sent my daughter out there to die and for what?!"_

_"Waste of Tax money!"_

_"Commander Keith! Was the mission worth all those lives?!"_

_"Waste!"_

_"Waste of lives!"_

_"Bastards!"_

_A sea of furious and hate-filled voices screeched all around the marching, bloodied Legion. The carts were lined, single file as they headed towards the HQ, an old castle near the center of Wall Rose. Petra scoffed, a sneer formed on her face. The rants and screams from the townspeople were getting on her nerves. She was a sweet girl, but all she went through today only to get barked at by people who did not understand was taking its toll on her. As the voices continued to scream, another was heard, a softer and gentler voice in the sea of hate._

_"Hey." A voice called out from behind Petra._

_Turning around in the cart, Petra saw Auruo riding his horse beside the cart, his sandy hair matted with sweat and grime._

_"Oh, Platoon Leader, you're alive." She sighed with relief. However, her voice still had an air of annoyance at the people around_

_"Of course I'm alive." Auruo said._

_"H-How is the rest of my squad?" She asked, with an air of anxiety._

_He sighed, his smile faded._

_"Only Squad Leader Sachi, Gerger and Nanaba managed to survive." Auruo spoke, his voice low and cold, laden with tired pain._

_Only three out of twenty-four._

_"Oh." She sighed, her heart broken._

_"Oh God, how am I going to tell her parents?" She thought aloud, her hands trembling._

_"I'm going to tell them." He said._

_"What?" She replied._

_"It was my call to engage the enemy to allow the rest of the carts to escape. Their deaths are my responsibility." He said, coldly._

_"You sound like you said that before, like this is nothing." She grumbled, not at him per say._

_Her voice was twisted in sorrow and disbelief, crackling in pain._

_"Yes, I have. Spoke to a lot of parents, earned a lot of enemies in my time and a sour reputation. But it comes with the job." He said, nonchalantly._

_His voice low and pained, a trait from four years in the Legion._

_She slouched back, uncertain of what to say next._

_As they rode on through the main road through the district, they were once again bombarded with profanity and hate when the carts filled with the dead rolled on through._

_"Bastards! Look at how many you killed!"_

_"My son, is he under those sheets?!"_

_"Serves them right for going out beyond the walls."_

_"Dumbasses."_

_"Horrid! This is what our tax money pays for, death?!"_

_Petra's brow furrowed as her face grew a scowl, the first time._

_"Hey, what the hell?!" She growled._

_"Easy there, Petra. Just let it run its course." Auruo uttered, placing his hand on her shoulder._

_She turned around to face the sandy-haired man. His eyes were dangerously serious._

_"WHY?!" She spat."Listen to what they're saying!"_

_"I know, but we cannot do anything about it but take it in stride. This is what being a Legionnaire is about." He said, brushing the mane of his horse with his bandaged hand._

_"So we take shit by these punks and do nothing?!" She questioned._

_"Yes, that's right."_

_"But why? Shouldn't they be grateful that we are even trying to take back the land we lost._

_"You'd think that would be the case."_

_"I don't understand then, why?"_

_"It is because you're still young, Petra. Only through experience will you find knowledge of these things. But always never let those experiences change you without your knowing." He said._

_She failed to understand what he was saying and just huffed in resignation. _

_"Tsk, whatever." She sat back._

_'Maybe one day you'll understand or maybe not. Maybe that's for the best if you never understand or get used this life.' He thought before setting his eyes forward, down the road._

_They rode off in silence for a moment. The roars and screams of the townspeople soon died as the Legion left the crowded and bustling center. As Petra and Auruo rode off, the silence was broken once again._

_"Oi! Platoon Leader Bossard! We need you up here on the double." Someone from up front shouted._

_"Roger that." He shouted back. "Got to go, get better soon, Petra." Auruo bided farewell before galloping ahead to the other Platoon Leaders._

_"See yeah later." She waved._

_As he rode onward she realized something._

_'Platoon Leader Bossard.' She thought. 'Bossard, where have I heard that name?'_

_"Argh! Why can't I remember?!" She shouted, yanking her hair._

* * *

**End of Flashback**

It has been a few days since the Legion's latest expedition. Licking their wounds, the Legion is now hunkering down, awaiting further orders by the Legion Commander. In the meantime, things have now grown quiet here in the outskirts of the Wall Rose districts. Small cottages were a common sight here in the outskirts of town in Karanese District. One such cottage, a vibrant blue chalet stood quaintly beside a river as the early morning light peeked over the walls. A small dirt road along the road traversed the hilly, green shore towards the bustling township. Riding along that road towards the blue chalet were two, cloaked horsemen.

Reining their horses just outside the cottage's lawn, the two Legionnaires walked up to the house.

"Excuse me. Hello, is anyone home?" One of the Cloaked Legionnaires asked, knocking on the large wooden door.

Rustling could be heard from inside, voices whispering from within.

"Hello." The other Scout asked.

Scuffling also was coming from within the darkened house.

The two soldiers looked at one another. The taller one gave an amused smirk.

"Do you think we can't hear them?" The hooded man asked.

"Probably. Say, Sachi." The other man said, his voice flat.

"What is it?" The man asked.

"Why did I have to tag along with you? I thought I was on casualty letter duty?" The shorter man questioned.

"Because, the Battalion Leader ordered so, I don't have the heart to go against Commander Hange's orders.

"She sure is a crazy one, eh?"

"Aye."

Their rambling was soon interrupted with the creaking of the wooden door. A man in his early forties appeared in the doorway. His orange hair had drawn the soldiers' attention from his drab, peasant attire.

"Can I help you?" The orange-haired man asked, a warm grin gracing his features.

"Ah, yes. We are members of the Scouting Legion. We've been sent to check up on one of our injured Scouts. Is this the Ral residents?" Squad Leader Sachi asked.

"Why yes, yes it is." The man confirmed.

The shorter man flinched slightly after hearing that name.

'Ral, as in Petra Ral?' He thought.

"Wait, hold on a second, Sachi. Who is it that we are visiting?" The man asked.

"One of my Squad members." The Squad Leader said.

"Which one?" The man asked, even though he knew who it was.

"Hmm, let's see." The Squad Leader hummed, pulling out a brown notebook. "Ah, here we are. Petra Ral. She's on medical leave for that busted forearm from the expedition we had a few days ago, remember?"

"Yeah, I see." The man said.

"You came to see my daughter, Petra?" The father asked.

"_Hai _Ral-san. Can we come in?" The Squad Leader asked.

"Of course."

Walking inside, the two Legionnaires were kissed with the scent of fresh baked bread and roasting poultry.

"Damn that smells nice." The hooded man said.

"Yeah, you're right." The Squad Leader agreed, taking off his hood, revealing his spiky black hair.

"Petra is in her room upstairs, she's still sleeping."

"_Sou ka_." Sachi said.

"In the meantime, why do we go get something to drink, eh? You two must be tired." The father said.

"_Hai_." Sachi cheered.

The other man simply groaned in approval. Walking into the kitchen, the three were met with the fiery heat of the clay oven in the corner.

"_Mattaku_, it's really hot." The Squad Leader said, fanning himself.

"Ah, sorry about that, my wife is baking the day's bread." The father said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No problem, Mister Ral." The man said, turning to shorter, middle-aged woman fanning the oven.

Bowing before the woman, he and the Squad Leader sat down across the kitchen table from the father.

"Here, drink up. My oldest daughter, Rhea made it this morning." Petra's father offered, handing the two scouts tea.

They turned to the mother and her nineteen-year-old daughter.

The long-haired girl turned to them and curtsied.

"_Thank you_ very much for the drinks." The hooded man said.

"_Oishii, _this is some delicious tea, Rhea." Sachi added.

"Why thank you." She blushed, turning away from the black-haired Squad Leader.

"So, how was my girl? Did she do well out there?" The Father asked, a smile gracing his face.

"Aye, she did, she helped me take down a few Titans." The hooded man said.

"Good, I thought she might have gotten that injury from falling off her horse." Petra's father chuckled.

A bead of sweat fell from both the Scouts' temples.

If only he knew.

"Um, anyway. Mister Ral, do you remember me? You and I have a bit of history if you can remember." The hooded man said

"Really?"

"Yes sir."

"_Taichou_? You two know each other?" Sachi asked.

"Yes, I do."

"From where?" Petra's father asked.

"Back about four years ago, you and your daughter came to see the Scouting Legion, am I correct?"

"Wait, are you?"

The hooded man pulled his hood off, revealing his face and sandy hair.

"Auruo Bossard?"

"Yes sir." The man smiled.

_'Finally, at least her father remembers me.' _He cheered inwardly.

Haha, well it's the nice young man that found my daughter." He chuckled.

"You remember all that?" The sandy-haired man smiled.

"You bet. My oh my, you have grown into quite the man, Auruo. Last time I saw you, you were only a teenager, now you're a man." Petra's father smirked.

"I wouldn't go that far." Auruo said.

Petra's father laughed.

"I still can't believe you remembered me after all these years." Auruo said, still shocked.

"Why of course, you gave my daughter that cloak and encouraged her to join the Legion. You changed her whole life, Auruo." He smiled.

The mother turned to Auruo, a scowl on her face.

He gulped. She obviously wasn't happy that her daughter had joined the military, let alone the most dangerous branch of it.

"Well, ahem, your daughter seems to have forgotten me." Auruo groaned.

"Ah, yes. She is quite the airhead, am I right?" He laughed.

"_Hai_, that she is. But your older daughter seems to be quite the responsible one." Sachi commented, sipping his tea.

"You are correct about that." Petra's father replied.

"T-thank you." Rhea stuttered, drying a bowl.

"You're welcome, Rhea-chan." He smiled.

She blushed even more.

The Squad Leader was oblivious of it and continued to sip at the steaming drink.

Auruo joined along. "Well, Petra sure trips a lot."

"Ha, yeah, way too often." Petra's father joked.

"Say, Mister Ral, do you mind taking me to her?"

"Of course, right this way." Petra's father replied, ushering the sandy-haired man to the staircase.

"I'll say here, this tea is way too good to be left alone." Sachi grinned.

"Fine, just don't get too comfortable here, we're heading back out right after this. We have a lot more houses to visit."

"_Hai, hai Taichou, Wakarimashita._" Squad Leader Sachi replied.

As the two left the room, Sachi looked down at his empty cup of tea.

"_Oishii. _Wow, Rhea-chan, you sure make good tea, mine if I have another one? Sachi smiled.

The woman smiled, her face flushed slightly.

"Sure thing, handsome." Rhea smile, holding a large knife.

Sachi froze. 'Oh shit.'

* * *

"Here we are." Petra's Father, pointing his hand to the door to Petra's room.

Opening the door, the two men entered the small bedroom. It was nothing special. Light pooled through the bay window overlooking the river fur-lined bed in the far left corner. Groaning awake, Petra sat up from her bed, rubbing her eyes open.

"Petra, someone is here to see you. And he's kept his promise." Petra's father sang.

"What? Who?" She asked. But as she finished she realized who it was and bolted up from the bed.

"Platoon Leader!" She said, saluting her commanding officer.

"Don't you mean _Big Brother_?" Petra's father laughed.

"What?"

"Don't you recognize him, Petra? He's the one that gave you the cloak when we went to see the Legion." Petra's father explained.

"Wait! Hold on a second." Petra begged, sitting back down, remembering the vague image she had.

* * *

_"Hello, are you hurt? Are you okay?" A masculine voice asked._

_The voice cooed gently from beyond the barrel where Petra sat, drenched in her tears. Her blue dress caked in dirt and her face flushed._

_She answered._

_"D-Daddy?" She asked with hope._

_"No." The unseen man sighed._

_From behind the water barrel where Petra sat, the petite girl was curled around a broom, her head lay buried in her arms and her deep blue dress splotched with dirt._

_"Why are you crying, little girl?" He asked kneeling before Petra._

_"I-I'm lost, I-I lost my daddy." Petra cried, her sobs muffled in her arms._

_"You lost him?" He asked._

_She nodded._

_"Well, don't cry. I'm sure he's here somewhere. Try to be brave." The Scout cooed, wiping Petra's tears away._

_"Okay, I-I'll try." She said, finally calming down._

_"Okay then, your father, what does he look like?" He asked, resting his arm on his knee._

_"He's big and tall, like you. Oh, and he has orange-brown hair, like mine but darker." She described, waving her hands wildly in the air to show how big her father was._

_The Scout chuckled lightly at the Petra's endearing demonstration._

_"Where did you last see him?" The 19-year-old man asked._

_"Well, we were visiting here from our home in Karanese when we got lost in the crowd. Now I can't find him." She sniffled._

_"You're from Karanese?"_

_"Yeah, are you from there, too?" Petra asked with childlike curiously._

_"Yes, I live there with my mother and father. We own an inn there."_

_Petra acknowledged the exchange of information by nodding but remained silent as she simply stared at the tall cloaked man._

_"So why are you and your father here? It's awfully far from Karanese." He asked, his face now blank._

_"We're here to see the Scouts!" Petra chimed, her eyes glittering like diamonds._

_The man sighed with relief now that Petra has finally stopped crying._

_'He's nice.' She thought, a tinge of pink forming on her cheeks._

_"You like the Scouting Legion?" He asked standing up and cocking his hips in pleasant surprise._

_"I love them. They get to go out of the wall and kick Titan butt and... and no matter how badly they get beat, they always stay strong! Like Daddy!" Petra said punching the air with her tiny fists in front of her._

_The man smiled softly at Petra when he heard that. She was the first person that he heard actually say something kind about the Scouts._

_"So you two were heading to the muster, I'm assuming?" He asked._

_"Yes, we were until we got separated in the crowd." She said with a frown._

_"Well, I am heading there, too. Maybe we will find him there." The Scout suggested, holding out his hand for the young girl._

_"You're heading there, too?" Petra asked._

_"You bet. Check it out." The man said, twirling for her, showcasing his travel cloak and his Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear, or 3DMG for short._

_"Wow, the Wings of Freedom! You... You're a Scout?" The girl asked, astonished as she pointed, at the man._

_"That's right. And as a soldier, it is my duty to protect and help the small, like you." The man said, resting his hands on his hips._

_Petra's eyes were stars as she stared in amazement at the man._

_"Wow, so cool! You'll help me?" She squeaked._

_"Yes, of course. It's what a soldier does." The man said, painting a proud smile._

_"Yeah!" The girl shouted, leaping back onto her feet._

_The man risked to time and quickly brushed off the dirt that clung to the girl's indigo dress and the leaves in her auburn hair._

_"What is your name?" He asked as he held out his hand._

_"Pe-Petra Ral." The small girl replied, resting her small hand on the palm of his much larger hand._

_"Petra, hmm, that's a beautiful name you have there." The man smiled._

_Her face flushed red. "T-Thanks." She uttered back, playing with her knee-length dress as she looked away out of embarrassment._

_A warm feeling welled up in her chest. He was nice; his smile brightened the alleyway and made the girl's heart beat fast for reasons she had yet to know._

_The man blinked, oblivious and confused of Petra actions and thoughts._

_"How old are you, Petra?" The young man asked._

_"Twelve."_

_"Twelve? You're awfully small for a twelve-year-old." The man said, shocked._

_"Hey, I'm just a little small is all." She shot back, puffing her cheeks, a habit of hers._

_"Haha, that's not the only thing that's underdeveloped." He joked, referring to her childish behavior._

_"Hmmph." Petra huffed._

_"Alright, enough fooling around, let's find your dad." He said._

_"Okie Dokie!" She replied._

_And with that the odd pair exited the alley and ran down the main road, towards the Rally point. Passing bystanders and Stationary Guards alike, the two soon reached the edge of the crowd. Pushing their way through the Scout and the girl began to frantically shout._

_"Mister Ral! Mister Ral, are you here? I have your daughter, Petra right here!" The man shouted._

_No answer._

_"Oi! Mister Ral, where are you? Your daughter is right here!" The man shouted at the top of his lungs._

_Again, nothing but silence._

_"Daddy! Daddy! I'm here. Where are you?!" Petra shouted as well._

_Finally, someone responded._

_"Petra! Petra, is that you?" A masculine voice called out from the front of the crowd._

_"Daddy!" Petra shouted back letting go of the Scout's hand._

_"Hey! Wait up! Come back here Petra. You might get hurt!" The young Scout shouted raising his for the girl._

_She did not listen as she ran, disappearing into the crowd. She ran towards the front of the crowd where just beyond that stood dozens of mounted Scouts and wagons ready for the gate to open._

_"Daddy!" Petra cried as she leapt into her father's awaiting arms._

_"Sweetie! Oh, I'm so relieved. I thought I lost you for good." The man whispered as he held his daughter tightly against his chest._

_"Me too, Daddy. If it weren't for Big Brother I don't know what I would have done." She sniffled._

_"Big Brother? Whose is that?" Her father asked, confused._

_"He's the one that led me to you." Petra explained rubbing the tears from her cheeks._

_"Petra, what did I tell you about talking to strangers, he might have kidnapped you or hurt you." He gently scolded her._

_'You're wrong Daddy, he's nice.' She thought._

_It was more of a worried talk if anything. The man looked as vicious and as hard as a bowl of rice pudding, but he was still worried._

_"But daddy, he's a Scout. He even has the Wings of Freedom on his cloak. He's so cool." Petra squeaked with stars in her eyes._

_"So where is this 'Big brother' of yours?" He asked._

_"Umm." She searched through the many towering faces until she spotted him. "Oh, there!" She said pointing to the blond-haired Scout that had accompanied her._

_He had finally, after several punches to the gut and spits to the face reached the front of the crowd. His face was covered in mud, rotten cabbage and sweat, mostly sweat. He looked extremely tired. After all, he had been running for miles all day in the sweltering heat. The crowd turned their attention from the mustering Legionnaires to the young Scout and father-daughter pair. As he found his gaze upon her, he smiled with relief._

_"There you are, Petra." He huffed, out of breath._

_"Hey!" She waved._

_"I thought I told you to wait for me." He scolded._

_"I know, but I heard Daddy." She replied with sad, puppy eyes._

_She stared him down, forcing him to avert his eyes to shield himself from her adorable gaze. His face heated up slightly out of embarrassment. Raising his chin high, he huffed._

_"Well, if you found your father then I guess it's okay." The man gave in crossing his arms._

_"Yeah, thanks Big Brother!" She cheered, her face flushed with joy._

_"Big Brother?" The Scout asked, turning to her father._

_"Your guess is as good as mine, young man." The father replied, shrugging his shoulders._

_"Oh, Big Brother, this is my daddy." Petra said getting up and unraveling her vibrant blue dress._

_"Pleasure to meet you, Mister Ral." The Scout said holding out his hand._

_"Oh, thank you, young man. If it wasn't for you I might never have found my beloved Petra." The father smiled, widely, taking the young man's hand with appreciation._

_"No problem, Sir. It is what a soldier does." The Scout said, forming the military salute._

_The crowd began to mutter and whisper to themselves, thus drawing the attention of one of the squad leaders towards the center of the mustered formation._

_"Oi! Recruit, you're late! Get over here; your horse and Squad are waiting." The Squad leader hollered from his mount in the center._

_"Yes Sir!" The Scout shouted back before excusing himself from the crowd._

_"Wait! I didn't get your name, Scout." The father said._

_The man stopped, his eyes shadowed over his eyes. Turning the man walked back up to the little girl and her father._

_"The name is Auruo, Auruo Bossard, Sir." The Scout said, flashing a proud grin._

_"Auruo, huh? I'll remember the name." Petra's father smiled._

_"Will we see you again Auruo?" Petra asked, innocently, eliciting a grimace from both men._

_"Ano, Sweetie, umm." Her father nervously began to speak but was cut off by Auruo._

_"I don't know Petra. I honestly don't know but here, you can have this in case you don't see me again." He said, unbuckled his travel cloak and handing it to the girl._

_"Eh! Really?!" She squeaked taking hold of the oversized cloak._

_"But of course. For being the Scouting Legion's biggest fan, you can have it. And don't worry I can get another one easily." Auruo smiled, ruffling the girl's orange hair._

_'If I survive.'__He thought._

_"Oh wow! Thanks Auruo, you're the best."_

_"You're welcome, Petra. Well, I should be going now; I need to meet up with my squad before we leave." Auruo said, pointing to his formed up squad, directly behind him on the left side of the formation._

_"But of course. Farewell Auruo and thank you." The father said bowing to the man._

_Auruo saluted the father and petted the auburn-haired girl's head._

_"You are most welcome." He said before walking to his awaiting thoroughbred Stallion. "Oh, and Petra." He added._

_"Yes!" The dangerously excited girl replied, hanging on tightly to the gifted cloak._

_"I promise I'll see you again." He smiled._

_"Promise?"_

_"Promise. Until we meet again, farewell." He said. Turning his head back he waved the girl goodbye before running towards his horse._

_"Same to you Auruo! I won't forget you! Hope to see you again!" She smiled waving the cloak in the air and jumping excitedly._

_Auruo smiled back one last time. His smile faltered for a moment in the realization that this could be his first and last expedition. That terrified him, but he bit the bullet and ran off, leaving the two behind._

* * *

"Auruo?!" She shouted.

"It's about time you remembered me." Auruo sighed, his restlessness finally receding.

"So you do remember him." Petra's father chuckled.

"I remember you." She whispered, pressing her hand to her heart.

"I'm surprised you remembered my name." Auruo said.

"Of course I would remember it. You gave me your cloak and encouraged me to join the Legion." Petra smiled.

"You give me far too much credit Petra." Auruo smiled, now relaxed and happy that the girl that made him smile finally remembered him.

"You know Auruo, she's been talking about you ever since that day." Petra's father joked.

Both of them blushed in embarrassment.

"Daddy! Don't say things like that! He's my superior!" Petra whined.

"Haha, sorry sweetie." He chortled.

"Anyway, I'm glad you remember me." He smiled, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"But why didn't you tell me earlier? If you had just reminded me I would have remembered it all." She said.

"Because he's always overly dramatic!" Squad Leader Sachi shouted from downstairs in the kitchen.

Petra and her father laughed.

"Oi! Sachi, zip it will ya?" Auruo growled.

"_Hai, hai_!" Sachi replied, his voice disappearing back into the kitchen.

"Tsk, that idiot." Auruo groaned.

"Is that true?" Petra asked.

"The truth is, Petra, if I had just told you who I was, then remembering would have just been a conversation piece and not something significant." Auruo explained.

"Was it really that important to you? I mean, for me getting that cloak made me join the Legion. But what about you?" She asked.

"Well, it was my first mission that day. I was nervous but talking to you and your father made me realize what I was risking my life for, what I was fighting for. It kept me alive all these years and for that I thank you." Auruo bowed.

"Y-Your welcome." Petra uttered, a tinge of pink washing over her face.

_'Why am I blushing?! He's my commander!' _She berated herself, smacking her cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Auruo asked, seeing her smack herself.

"Aha, just smacking myself awake is all." Petra laughed nervously.

"Okay... Anyway, how is your arm?" Auruo asked, walking to the center of the room.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. I just need to rest it for a few more weeks." She explained.

"That's good." Auruo said.

"So, why are you here?" She asked.

"I have been ordered by the brass to check up on the injured from the latest mission." Auruo said.

"Oh." She replied.

"Anyway, it looks like you're doing well."

"I am."

"Okay, then. I should get going now. We still have around forty more houses to visit." Auruo said.

"Okay, see you later, Platoon Leader." She waved.

"It's Auruo, Petra. Call me Auruo." He ordered, his voice low and soft.

"Yes Auruo."

"Okay, get better soon. Our next major expedition in coming up in a few months. So get better." Auruo insisted.

"Yes Sir! I will."

"Alright then, see you around." Auruo said before walking back out into the hallway with Petra's father.

"You look happy." Petra's father smiled.

"She remembered me." He said.

"Aye, that she did."

"Well, ahem, I should get going then." Auruo said, clearing his thought.

"Very well, oh and Auruo."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I'm trusting you to watch over her when she's out there." Mister Ral said, placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder.

"I will." Auruo smiled.

Walking back down the stairs, the two men walked into the kitchen to a strange sight.

"Hey, Sachi, we're done here, let's go." Auruo ordered.

He grew silent, his eyes widen as did Mister Ral at the sight that beheld them.

Sachi was sitting, stiff as a board. His face was as red as a tomato, his hair fluttering about with uncontrollable excitement. Normally it wouldn't have been a big deal, except that Petra's sister, Rhea was sitting on his lap, her face flushed and her arms wrapped around the poor, stricken Squad Leader.

"Oi! Sachi! What the hell are you and Miss Ral doing?!" Auruo spat.

"Oh thank goodness, Auruo! _Tasuke kudasai_!" Sachi whimpered, sticking one of his hands from the girl's tight embrace.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing with my daughter?!" Petra's father roared.

"N-Nothing Sir, s-she came on to me! I swear I didn't do anything!" The Squad Leader pleaded.

"Lies! And Honey, why didn't you do anything?" The orange haired man shouted, picking up a broom.

"I thought Rhea could use the interaction, dear." The middle aged woman laughed.

"Why you!" Petra's father shouted.

"No, _chotto matte_! Please just listen, Sir!"

"Enough!"

Breaking away from the girl's iron-like grip, he and Auruo bolted out of the door.

The nineteen-year-old girl groaned in disapproval as she fell back to the floor.

"Wait!" Petra's father shouted.

"Run Sachi, he's after your ass!" Auruo shouted, mounting his horse.

"This is the worst!" Sachi cried, mounting his own.

"Come back here!" Petra's father shouted, waving his broom in the air.

"Come back again!" Petra's mother smiled from the doorway.

"Wait! Sachi-senpai, why won't you notice me?" Rhea shouted, an aura of darkness around her. A creepy grin formed on her face and roll of rope held tightly in her hand.

"_B-Baka_!" Sachi shouted back before riding off down the road with Auruo shortly behind.

_'Damn it all, she's a yandere. Fuck me!'_ He screamed inside.

Back behind the frightened Squad Leader, Auruo was panting from that narrow escape of a broom beat down. He was in thought, remembering what she said.

_"I remember You."_

_'She remembered me. She remembered.'_ He smiled.

The noon sun rose higher now as the two Scouts rode off, leaving behind Petra's crazy family for their next stop.

...

_"A name is not just a label, my dear. It is a voice; its meaning, grander than any palace, stronger than any wall, but also delicate, like a spring flower. But always remember it. For it is yours and yours, alone."_

**Chapter Song(s): ****Flashback Song: Attack on Titan by Hiroyuki Sawano (Shingeki no Kyojin OST)**

**After Flasback: Spring Breeze Piano Version by Shinji Orito (Clannad OST)**

* * *

**Author's Note:** The next chapter takes place a month later after Petra recovers from her injuries. It's mostly a fluff-filled chapter with the first time that Petra and Auruo get to just relax together and talk about random things. Also the next chapter reveals exactly the extent of Auruo and Petra's history and why it was so important to Auruo that Petra remembered him, revealing an incident that shaped who Auruo is today, an incident that only Auruo remembers. It won't be the most exciting or action-packed chapter but it leads into grander things.

Also Squad Leader Sachi is an OC of mine, he'll be a reoccurring character in this story.


	5. The Song She Sung

**Chapter Synopsis:** A month has passed (Two years prior to Wall Maria's breach) and Petra is finally back to full health from injuries sustained during her first mission. While the Legion celebrates the newest batch of raw recruits from the trainee squads, she decides to visit Auruo at HQ. There Squad Leader Sachi learns why Petra remembering Auruo was so important to him and he also learns more about Auruo's past and how a small act of kindness shaped the sandy-haired man for a lifetime and how a song sparked something special within him.

* * *

**The Kingfisher's Dream**

**Chapter Four**

**The Song She Sung**

* * *

_"Auruo?!" She shouted._

_"It's about time you remembered me." Auruo sighed, his restlessness finally receding._

_"So you do remember him." Petra's father chuckled._

_"I remember you." She whispered, pressing her hand to her heart._

_"I'm surprised you remembered my name." Auruo said._

_"Of course I would remember it. You gave me your cloak and encouraged me to join the Legion." Petra smiled._

_..._

_"You look happy." Petra's father smiled._

_"She remembered me." He said._

_"Aye, that she did."_

_"Well, ahem, I should get going then." Auruo said, clearing his throat._

_"Very well, oh and Auruo."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I'm trusting you to watch over her when she's out there." Mister Ral said, placing a hand on the taller man's shoulder._

_"I will." Auruo smiled._

_..._

_He was in thought, remembering what she said._

_"I remember you."_

_'She remembered me. She remembered.'__He smiled._

* * *

**One Month Later**

There was a gentle glow emitting from the paraffin lanterns as they hung lazily from the two rows of stone pillars. Their comforting heat warmed the crowded dining hall with their soft, orange luster, burning away the night's chill. That gentle heat kept the grip of night at bay as a low breeze washed through the open windows to be simmered as it blew through the large mead hall of the Legion's Head Quarters. The wind's howl only added to the already booming atmosphere that laden the bustling hall. The mead hall was alive with much activity. The rumbling of boots, the clanging of goblets and mugs, the splashing of cheap mead and wine upon the wooden floor and hardy laughter told the tale of celebration.

A stark contrast to the solemn march they took only a month ago.

The latest batch of recruits had arrived and as a rite of passage which seemed more like hazing they were to challenge the veterans to a whole host of challenges. Large round tables were stationed for messy drinking contests. Whole makeshift arenas were constructed out of chairs for drunk sparring. Even perilous pranks on the squad commanders were planned. Most of the recruits were smart enough to avoid the latter. Nothing is more dangerous than a pissed off drunken Senior Officer with a metal spoon, especially a drunk Hanji Zoe.

The bustling sounds of drunkards filled the grand hall with a joyous atmosphere as the celebration drew into deep night. Veteran Scouts boasting about their acts of valor to doe-eyed recruits, Bards singing the old tales of glory and valor of the knights of the elder age, the world before the Titans. Even the maiden servants and call girls took to celebrating with folk dances in the open center of the room. The dancers swayed and splashed against each other in an enchanting motion as the strumming of Citoles, harps and Gitterns playing in the backdrop.

It was a grand sight to behold.

Even with all this going on, the mead hall was still a welcoming place for those that wished for a quieter and less hectic night. In a quiet, secluded corner of the large hall, opposite of the main doorway sat a tired Scout, Auruo Bossard. His ear-length sandy hair was greasy and unkempt as always. But tonight it seemed even more tousled than usual, a product of many sleepless, work-filled nights. With only a single taper candle on the round table, he was virtually shrouded in shadow. Only the occasional flicker of the candle's flame revealed his shadowed form.

Auruo had his back against the cold, stone wall; his body slouched over, tired and silent. He was dressed in only his usual night attire of a gray linen tunic, matching trousers and worn Bast shoes. He was quiet and somber. He had, after a long month, finally finished filing all the casualty reports from the last expedition. It was a macabre duty, indeed. Every stained page told a story, every name was a life forever gone, cut short by the vile giants.

He was tired, restless.

Four years in the Legion had changed Auruo. He was no longer a doe-eyed recruit boasting impossible promises of Titan murder. That day he met that auburn-haired girl, he was as green as an emerald. He was as naive and foolhardy as a child when he rode off beyond the walls that day. What childlike courage that girl gave him that day had long faded. Now, now all these years later he had grown tired. He had grown up, baptized in blood and eye-water. The burden of responsibility had taken its toll on the man. His once youthful face was growing flaccid; his eyes grew dull and burdensome, his skin and hair losing its luster. Although he plastered the image of a confident, stoic commander to all, even Petra, he was being worked over like a dog. He was cracking. Dark rings surrounded his dull amber eyes, his cheeks sunken in slightly from stress. He was no longer that cheery, bird-loving boy he once was. He hated them now. Those damn vultures and crows were constantly circling above the Legion were ready for the next casualty of war. They irritated him beyond measure.

He was a mess.

Thank the Maker he had black coffee and hot, slimy gruel to keep him awake or else he might very well fall asleep right then and there. But he did not. Taking a spoonful of his steaming gruel into his mouth, he marked down on his leather-bound journal yet another meaningless report in an endless sea of the files.

As he closed the brown book, he noticed something bright and orange approaching. It was a person; someone was approaching from his left, from the center of the room.

It was Petra.

His heart unconsciously fluttered slightly as she walked up to him. Her smile was lovely and warm as always. In a sea of unrecognizable, hardened faces, he was glad to see a familiar and soft face, especially a warm, refreshing one as hers. She was a star in his tired eyes, a jewel in the debris of his existence. He turned to her. Her face was clean of mud and grim, unlike her contemporaries. She must have bathed prior to arriving here for she owned herself a gentle radiance. Walking towards him, Auruo's half-asleep state was now fully alert as the smiling, auburn-haired girl approached.

"Greeting Sir!" She smiled, waving as she walked up to Auruo's empty table.

"Oh hey Petra. Hey, didn't I tell you to call me Auruo?" He joked, his energy coming back.

"Ah, sorry, it's just feels weird, you know? I mean, you're my commanding officer after all." Petra said, fidgeting with her fingers, nervously. Her face was flushed lightly in awkward embarrassment.

Auruo gulped. His heart fluttered again.

_'Damn it, she's too adorable.'_ He thought.

"Are you okay, Platoon Lea—I mean A-Auruo?" She stammered, seeing the sandy-haired man covering his red face with his hand.

He sighed, losing the pink on his face.

"Petra." He cooed.

"What is it...Auruo?"

"Does calling me by my first name make you uncomfortable?"

"No, I mean I just—it's not that, Sir. I-I just need to get used to it, is all." She faked a laugh.

"Petra, you don't have to lie." He sighed.

"I'm no-not, Sir." She defended.

"If not, then you wouldn't mind looking me in the eye and saying it then, now would you?" Auruo grumbled.

"I'm sorry. It's just kind of weird, is all." She uttered.

Auruo sighed, turning away from her. He felt a litter hurt by it. Was calling him by his first name really that weird?

Seeing his hurt face, Petra immediately regretted it.

"It's not you, Sir. I didn't mean to offend. I-I." She panicked.

"If it really makes you more comfortable then don't call me Auruo, then. Call me Platoon Leader or Sir then, okay Petra?"Auruo suggested.

"Thanks Sir." She beamed.

"Anyway, your arm looks fully healed. How are you?" Auruo asked.

Yeah, I'm good. My arm's completely fixed. How are you, Sir?" She asked back.

"I'm fine. I'm just... tired, is all. A month of nothing but paperwork, body delivery and bitter parents sure take their toll. Almost makes me miss expeditions, _almost_." He said.

"Casualty reports?" She guessed.

"Yeah, those." He groaned, rubbing his temples in frustration.

"Must be hard, all this weight on your shoulders." She said.

"It is, but you do what duty demands, right?"

"I guess you have to get used to it eventually, right?"

"No." He said, his voice marinated with absolution.

"What?"

"You never get used to it, Petra. Nor do I or you or anyone should ever get used to it." He growled, his voice laden with bitter anger.

Petra was surprised by this. He seemed so calm and collected. Surely this was nothing to stress over. She turned to him, still standing across the table from him. His eyes were shadowed and a grimace on his face.

"Platoon Leader, how long have you been doing these reports?" She whispered.

"Let's see... umm, since I got promoted to Platoon Leader three years ago, I guess. Last time I counted, I must have done over a hundred reports."

"That's way too many."

"And that's just me. We have nine others that are appointed to this duty."

"I see." She exhaled.

"Ahem, anyway, grab a seat. It would be rude of me to sit while you stand." He offered, changing the subject.

"Oh, thanks."

She plopped down across the table from him and yawned.

"Tired?" Auruo inquired, taking a sip of coffee.

"Yeah, a little. That herbal medicine Doctor Yeager gave me to accelerate bone growth makes you drowsy."

"You see, that's what I don't get." He said, wagging his finger.

"What?"

"How does that root medicine make you drowsy? How does it even work?" Auruo questioned.

"No clue."

"How long will you be on that medicine?"

"Another month or so."

"I see."

"Yup, glad I'm taking it though. Dancing is a lot easier with stronger bones."

"You dance, Petra?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course I dance, who do you think I am?" She shot back, playfully.

"Well, you don't seem like the most coordinated person."

"Hey. That's not nice."

"It's the truth, am I right, Miss falls-off-her-horse?"

She blushed in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's not my fault, my horse got spooked."

"Sure, Klutz." He teased.

"I-I'm the most coordinated person I know, Sir." She stammered.

"That makes me even more worried." He smirked.

"Hmmph." She huffed. "I'll have you know, Sir. I placed first place in my local dance competition for three years in a row." She boasted.

"Ooh! We have a badass over here." He gasped.

"Damn straight." She agreed, not realizing he was just kidding.

"But in all seriousness. You seem like the kind of person that would trip over their own feet."

"That's so mean!" She pouted.

"Haha—." His laughter was cut short with his teeth slamming down on his tongue.

_Snap!_

"Ahh!" He hollered, placing his hand over his mouth.

"Platoon Leader, are you okay?!" She gasped.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He muttered, his bleeding tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"You're bleeding though!"

He was indeed bleeding; he was so entranced by Petra's adorableness that he accidentally bit his tongue.

"Yeah, I just bit my tongue, is all."

"And I'm the klutz." She laughed.

"It was only one time." He defended.

"Tsk, you always do that." She laughed, handing him a napkin.

"No, I don't." He pouted, crossing his arms in protest.

"What about when you saved me from those Titans last month?"

"I was under a lot of stress." He spat.

"What about when you came over every weekend to check up on me and have dinner with my family for the last four weeks?" She continued.

"Your mother's cooking was so delicious that I lost track of my tongue's position in my mouth." He explained.

"Really, now?" She smirked, crossing her arms.

"Meh, whatever." He sighed, taking a spoonful of gruel.

Sitting down, Petra flashed him a knowing smile, darting her eyes towards the center of the room.

"So, you seem to be awake now, you having fun?" He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Ah huh. I was just dancing with the other girls just now. You should join in." Petra suggested.

"I think I'll pass." He chuckled, lightly.

"Ah come on, it'll be fun." She pressed.

"I don't think so. Besides I'm awfully tired, just finished the last of the casualty reports from the last expedition so now I'm just hanging back and relaxing."

"Fine." She gave up.

"Yeah, so don't say _dance_ anymore around me tonight, okay Petra? Just hearing it makes me feel even more tired." He pleaded, shaking his head.

She gave a coy, knowing smile.

"Okay, Platoon Leader. You don't have to _dance_. I know how much you don't want to _dance_. So I won't ask you to _dance_." She teased.

Auruo's eye twitched.

_'Calm down. She's just trolling you, Auruo.'_ He thought, a bead of sweat falling down his cheek

"Petra what did I just say!" He cried out in frustration.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." She squeaked.

Auruo sighed before snickering along with her.

"Say, Platoon Leader." She uttered.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes."

"For what?" He asked.

"For visiting and keeping me company while I healed. It made me happy to have someone to talk to besides my _unique_ sister. You know she's always talking and thinking about Squad Leader Sachi." She chuckled.

Auruo gulped.

_'Looks like Sachi has himself an enthusiastic admirer. Sachi is not going to like that one bit.' _He chuckled to himself.

His heart fluttered a bit. "No problem, Petra. It's what any Officer does."

"They have dinner with their subordinates' families?"

"No. Checking up on the wellbeing of my Scouts, is all." He corrected, trying terribly to hide his flushed face.

"Okay, thanks."

"You're welcome." He said.

Taking another sip of his coffee, he sighed.

"Speaking of families, how is yours?" She asked inquisitively.

He looked up to her, his eyes widened in surprise. He was genuinely surprised she asked that. Normally, entry-level Scouts wouldn't be interested or concerned with their Superiors' family. But she seemed quite interested.

"They're fine. My mother gave birth to my second brother, last week." He explained.

"What, you have siblings?!" She spat, leaning in closer.

"Yeah, is that strange?" He said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, no. It's just that you're in your twenties. It just seems odd since I thought you were an only child."

"I hear you. My brothers are quite young. The oldest is only two." He said. "But soon they'll be old enough for me to boast to." He joked.

"Oh really? Ha, but anyway that's quite the age difference."

"Yeah, it is. But I understand why." Auruo said, his voice lowering to a serious tone,

"Why?"

"Because of my profession, Petra." He explained.

"Being a Scout?"

"Yeah, being a Scout has grave drawbacks, you know Petra. We're always on the frontier, always but a single trip up away from being Titan feed."

She remained silent.

"So, my parents are ensuring that the inn we have back at home remained open with a male heir and that they have someone to take care of them when they get old. And with my profession, my life is quite uncertain."

"You make it seem so matter of fact." She said, taken aback.

"Perhaps, but it is the world we live in, Petra. We do what we must."

She kept silent.

"Well, enough of that. About this 'celebration', have you been having fun?" He smirked, trying to change the subject.

It worked.

"Yup, I'm having a lot of fun. But, it's nice to just sit down and rest, too." She said.

"I see. Say, since you were dancing earlier, have you met any interesting people?" He asked.

"Yeah, I met a lot of interesting people."

"Like who?"

"Well, my dance partner earlier was Major Hanji—." She said.

"Hold up! Okay, I'm going to stop you right there, Missy." He said, raising his hand to silence her.

"What why?" She asked, surprised.

He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Come closer, Petra." He ordered, ushering her closer with a flick of his wrist.

She drew closer to him until only a few inches separated the two of them. His face flushed from the sheer heat emitting from his teenage companion.

He gulped.

"Okay, first off. Major Hanji Zoe is _crazy_. Second, she's _crazy_. And third, SHE'S _FUCKING CRAZY_!" He shouted.

"What, no. She's really nice and funny." Petra shot back.

"Of, you just don't know, Petra. Spend enough time, go on enough missions with her and you'll change your mind." He huffed, frantically.

"Speaking of missions, I thought we'd be out beyond the walls more often. Not that I want to, seeing as I nearly got eaten. I heard from Major Hanji we only go out on expeditions only every few months." She said.

"Well, for large-scale exploration like we did last month where the whole Legion goes, we have around one or two a year, for the most part, unless we have a very disastrous mission where we lose a lot of men, like this one."

"I see."

"But we also have a lot of smaller scale missions: recon, survey, extermination, that sort of thing. We usually have one each month. Depending on the specific mission, we might send as little as a squad to up to a whole company or Team."

"Wow! So when is the next mission?"

"In a few weeks."

"Oh, cool."

"Yeah, but since the Legion's Scouts are in constant rotation for active duty, our unit, Halcyon Company-Rubicon Platoon isn't scheduled for an expedition for another four months."

"What! We have to wait four months before we can go out beyond the walls again!" She gasped.

"Yup, isn't it great? We get to relax and fatten up for a good third of the year."

"But, what about reclaiming the land beyond the walls?" She asked, naively.

"In due time, Petra. We still have a long way to go." He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Yes Sir." She groaned.

"Anyway is there anything specific that you wished to talk about since you stopped dancing to talk to me?" He asked.

"No, not really. Just wanted to talk you is all." She smiled.

"I see." Auruo trailed off into silence.

The silence between the two was soon broken when the Bards switched from a calm, melody to a vibrant, energetic dance hymn.

"Oh wow! I love this song!" She cheered, jumping from her seat.

"Woo there, Ginger." Auruo laughed.

"If you'll excuse me, Sir, I'm going back to dance." She said.

"Alright, have fun, Petra."

"I will." She said before running towards the center of the room.

As he turned back, chuckling with amusement, he heard his name being called.

"Oh, and Auruo." Petra shouted.

_'She said my name, without me asking her. Why now?'_ He thought.

"What is it?" He turned, covering his throbbing heart with his hand.

"I might have said this a thousand times before, but thanks for saving me that day and thanks for giving me that cloak back then." She smiled.

"No problem, Petra. I'm your Commander, aren't I? I can't abandon my subordinates or our biggest fans." He smiled back.

"That's why I'm glad you're my Commander, Auruo. You may have a mean look to you, Sir, but you're really kind." She smiled.

And with that, she disappeared into the dancing crowd, leaving a flustered Auruo alone, wide-eyed.

"I-Idiot, don't just go saying things like that all of a sudden, especially something so embarrassing. Tsk, what a brat." He grumbled, covering his red face.

Turning back, he went back to his now cold meal.

"Damn it, it's all cold now." He groaned.

Nothing is worse than hot, slimy gruel, well, perhaps, cold, jelly-like gruel. As he begrudgingly went back to his disgusting meal, he was once again assaulted with ear shattering noise. This time it was not the playing Bards or the rowdy drunkards.

"Oi! Auruo! _Konbanwa._"

_'Damnit, not him. I was just about to get some more peace and quiet.' He thought._

He turned to the voice. A flash of blue and black caught his eye.

"Good evening, Sachi. What's up?"

"I just came to say _Konnichiwa_." Sachi said.

"Ah, I see." He yawned.

"_Daijoubu ka_?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Sachi. I'm just tired." Auruo groaned.

"_Sou ka_." Sachi nodded, before sitting down across the table.

"Yeah, I've been so busy with these damn casualty reports. I've been working nonstop for a week just finishing them up." Auruo groaned.

"How many did we lose?"

Looking at his clipboard, Auruo sighed.

"Halcyon Company, alone, had thirty confirmed dead with another fifteen wounded and five missing." Auruo mentioned.

"That's over a third of our Company!" Sachi gasped.

"That's not the worst of it. The other two companies suffered even more casualties. Redhawk Company lost forty-five with fifteen injured and ten missing. Meanwhile, Blackbird Company was nearly wiped out; out of their ninety Legionnaires, only fifteen made it back, the rest are either dead or missing.

"How many Scouts do we have now?" Only 135 out of the three hundred we left with last month survived.

"_Kuso_, it'll take at least another two years to fully regain our numbers. Not including losses we'll lose in the meantime."

"Yeah, well, this latest trainee squad was crazy enough to bless us with thirty-five new recruits."

"_Hontou_? That's twice as much as we got last year."

"Yeah, most of them are going to Blackbird Company to bolster their numbers. Hopefully at least ten of them will survive the next expedition."

"Which unit is going next month?"

"Redhawk Company-Jaybird Platoon-Third Squad, they're going on a recon patrol to the south of Shiganshina District."

"Hmm, the south sure has had a lot of Titan sightings lately. Remember the mission two months ago?"

"Yeah, Blackbird Company discovered some strange acting Titans. What did they call them, Aberrants?"

"Yeah, they completely ignored the forward scouts and completely decimated the mobile Cannonading teams."

"Those are a big pain in the ass."

"Damn straight."

"Anyway, so what's up? Anything interesting happened tonight?" Auruo asked, taking a swig of his coffee.

"Yeah, I-I got to dance with _buntaichou _Hanji, earlier." Sachi blushed, biting his lip.

"Um, Sachi, you're blushing." Auruo deadpanned.

"Eh?!" Sachi gasped, covering his face with his blue scarf.

"Your face is all red. Are you—oh no, hold on a second, don't tell me you have fucking crush on that wackjob Hanji." Auruo groaned.

"What?! No of course not. It's not like I like her smile or adore her goofy antics or—." He stopped himself, slamming his hands to cover his mouth.

"Geez, you have strange taste in women , Sachi." Auruo groaned, shaking his head.

Sachi grew silent.

"Tsk, how she? How was the dancing?" He grumbled.

"She's a really good dancer, quite energetic."

"More like a complete loony, if you ask me." Auruo rolled his eyes.

Man, you seem out for Hanji, what did she do to you?" Sachi chuckled.

"Well, she wanted to experiment on me for my resilience for blood loss ever since she saw me bite my tongue last year. So yeah, I have a gripe against her." Auruo explained.

"Ha, _Sou ka_. Speaking of blood loss, you seemed quite red-faced when Petra came over to talk to you." Sachi cackled, taking his revenge.

Auruo's face reddened; his fist made contact with Sachi's head.

"_Itai_! What was that for?"

"Don't say stupid stuff like that asshole!" Auruo barked.

"Come on you should have seen how fidgety you were when she walked away."

"You saw?"

"Ah huh. I saw from across the way when I was having a few drinks with my buddies, Zakarius-san and Mobit-kun."

"The freaky nose guy and Hanji assistant?" Auruo croaked.

"Yup, they are friends of mine and—wait a minute. You're just changing the subject." Sachi deduced.

"What? No, of course not." Auruo whistled.

"Yes you are. You're just trying to change the topic from Petra, especially the part when you were blushing like a lovestruck lass when she complimented you." Sachi cackled.

"I-Idiot, what are you talking about. I was as stone-faced as I always am." Auruo said, flashing a blank, emotionless face.

"_Hontou_?"

"Really."

"Then why were you blushing when she complimented you about, oh I don't know, 'You may have a mean look to you, Sir, but you're really kind.' Answer me Auruo!" Sachi teased, imitating Petra's voice.

"How did you—?" He stopped himself when he saw Sachi's grin grow.

"Oh, so you did?"

Auruo clinched his teeth.

"Sachi, I'll say this in your native tongue so that even a birdbrain like you can understand. _Urasai Bakayaro_!" Auruo grumbled.

"Hey! Who are you calling a dumbass?" Sachi pouted.

"You! Now leave me alone, idiot." Auruo groaned, sinking into his seat.

"Ah, Auruo, I was just playing around, is all." Sachi apologized.

"You know, you should really call me Commander. You are my subordinate after all."

"Then why were you asking Petra to call you Auruo?"

Auruo's sweat froze.

"Umm, I-I."

"Auruo, do, do you like her?!" Sachi gasped.

"What?! Of course not! I'm her Superior for fuck sake!" Auruo shot back, his face now a brilliant scarlet.

"Then why is her calling you Auruo so important?"

"I-I don't know. It's just sounds nice when she calls me that." Auruo grumbled.

"Then why not have her call you Auruo-senpai?"

Auruo blushed.

"Or Auruo-kun."

His face heated even more.

"What about Auruo-sama?

"Never!"

His face was as red as a tomato now.

"So you do like her!"

"Fuck you, Sachi!"

A bowl of gruel made contact with Sachi's head.

"_Itai_!"

"Serves you right, idiot." Auruo spat.

"_Gomenasai._" Sachi sobbed, his hands on his lap, defeated.

"Now then, let me set the record straight, I don't like her. She's my subordinate and comrade. That's it."

"_Hai_." Sachi sobbed.

"It's just that she's a lot different than the others. Her energy and cheerfulness is... refreshing from all the tired and bitter faces we see all the time. That's all."

"_Sou ka._"

"Thank you."

"But if I may speak freely, Auruo. I would just like to know one thing." Sachi said, wiping the pasty porridge from his jet-black hair.

"What is it?" Auruo growled.

"If you don't like Petra, then why was her remembering you so important?"

Auruo sighed.

"Like, why would Petra remembering your name and everything be so meaningful? You thought I didn't notice how happy you were when we ran out of her house last month, did you? I never saw you so happy before and we've been bunkmates since our trainee days." Sachi said.

"Fine. I guess I'll tell you." He relented.

He adjusted his sitting position to begin what seemed like a long monologue.

"It may seem stupid, Sachi, but the reasons why Petra remembering me was so important were..." He trailed off.

"Were what?"

He sighed.

"You remember when we were mustering for our first mission?"

"_Hai_, I remember." Sachi nodded. "You were half an hour late and you lost your cloak."

"Well, no. I gave my cloak to Petra, actually."

"What—oh wait, I remember you saying something about that when we were at her family's house last month."

"I did."

"Why did you do that?"

"Well, because she said she was the Scouting Legion's biggest fan, according to her. And if you saw her you'd be heartless to not give her something." Auruo explained.

"Ah huh." Sachi grinned.

"What?" Auruo asked, taken aback slightly.

"So the foul-mouth, Platoon Leader has a soft spot for little girls?" Sachi chuckled.

"Shut up, Idiot. You're making me sound like some common pedophile."

"_Wakatta_. If it's not the case then please continue on. You were on the part of us mustering for our first mission together."

"Ah, yes. Well, the reason why Petra remembering me was so important was because I was really nervous about heading out and she helped me overcome some of that nervousness."

"Yeah, we were all quite nervous back then. Even now I get the tingles whenever our unit is cycled through."

"It was because of how excited and happy she was that I was able to not completely piss my pants that day."

"So she gave you strength?"

"Somewhat."

"_Sou ka_, so you have an attachment to her because she helped you in that regard."

"Yes, but there's also two more reasons off the top of my head why I see Petra as someone significant in my life, in a non-romantic, platonic, no strings attached way, you see, like a friend or comrade."

"What are they?"

"Well the first is that she's just so cheery, haven't you noticed?"

"I have. You'd think she'd have numbed up after her first mission."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. She's hasn't changed a bit." He said, smiling inwardly.

"Yeah, she's a dense as a rock, nothing fazes her." Sachi added.

"That's what I'm talking about. No matter what you throw at her, she just rebounds." Auruo said, a small smile gracing his lips.

"She is quite something else, I'll say that."

"Aye that she is, Sachi. That she is."

"So you admire that resilience?"

"I guess. It's refreshing, no doubt about it."

"And what is the last reason?"

Auruo hesitated for a moment.

"Well, it-it's kind of a dumb reason." Auruo laughed, nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"_You_ have a dumb reason?" Sachi smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's kind of a weird reason to place significance on someone."

"It can't be that weird, Auruo. Go on."

"Well, remember when we were trainees?"

"Yeah, the instructor chewed you out on the first day and you cried like a baby."

"Yeah well, I wasn't always the 'stoic' and calm commander I am now. I was actually quite the crybaby then. I was really weak too. I was so overwhelmed with the training and felt so lost. I even thought of quitting right then and there after just a week of training and go home."

"_Hontou_?"

"Yeah, but when I waited at the entrance of the training grounds waiting for the wagon to take me home, I met someone, a little girl."

"Petra?"

"No, but good guess though. Petra reminds me of that little girl but I'm pretty sure it isn't. I guess that's why I find Petra refreshing. She's like a reminder of that girl. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here. But I know it can't be Petra. Like what the chances of that?" Auruo said.

"Probably very slim, unless fate kicked in, eh?" Sachi cooed, nudging Auruo's stiff shoulders.

"Shut up." Auruo laughed. "Anyway, that girl, I don't remember her face but what I do remember is that she was maybe eight or nine at the most. I was actually crying, ashamed and upset at myself and afraid of what I was going to do if I stayed. She saw me crying and came to comfort me. Because of her, I decided to stick with the training. And here I am." Auruo spoke.

Sachi remained silent as Auruo continued on in his nostalgic recollection.

"Think about it, Sachi; an eight-year-old comforting a fifteen-year-old boy. Man, I was a loser back then. She even sang to me, can you believe it?" He chuckled lazily.

"_Sugoi_, that's actually pretty cool. So you are attached to Petra as a friend." Sachi replied.

"More like a brother, I guess. Petra called me _Big Brother_ when I first met her, after all." Auruo explained.

"So, you attached to her as a _brotherly figure_ because she reminds you of that little girl that convinced you to stay in the military?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Wow, tsk, that is a stupid reason."

"Shut up, idiot." Auruo snapped, sarcastically, punching the younger Scout in the arm.

"So, what was the song she sung, do you remember?"

* * *

**8 years prior**

_The sweltering heat that had washed over training camp Rose-21 had finally retreated as late afternoon turned to dusk. A light gale began as gentle rain fell upon the ground. The dusty road turned into a wet mud pit. The squishing of mud and the pitter patter of footsteps echoed through the beating rain. The trainee camp was silent. Curfew fell an hour ago so the only few that remained were either the instructors and guards, or those that have decided to quit the military that now waited at the main gate, awaiting the nightly wagon back home._

_The instigator of those footsteps was one of them. His curtly cut sandy-hair drooped low over his eyes, a marker of his abysmally low spirits. His heart ached and moaned for release, freedom from this cage he knew would kill him eventually, the military. Only fifteen years old and having never stepped foot out of his Karanese home, this place was overwhelming, alien._

_The simple town life he led with his parents at their inn had not prepared him for the relentless and bloody life of a soldier. All the tales of glory and honor he was told about the military were all a lie. The easy life he wished for as a soldier manning the towers, safe from danger were a façade, a hoax. Now, now he saw it as a pointless waste of time, a dream he could never reach. He flashed a mask of disapproval and cold resentment of the whole institution. What was the point; he would ask himself. His weak body, his gentle mind was tired now of all this._

_He just wanted to go home._

_That was the reason why he sat against the wooden fence of the trainee camp. He had lost the will to go on with this life he deemed futile and impossible. He had lost that passion for the Military he had once had but a week ago, for reality kicked in. His clothes were dirty, his hair stained with mud. All that talk of being a brave soldier was lost to him now. All he could do was to wait along the road that would lead him back to town. A tear fell from his ashen face. He mentally berated himself for being so weak, so half-hearted but more so about being so seduced by the exaggerated life as a soldier and the idealized view of duty._

_He almost shed a tear, almost. He gazed forward, down the muddy road to town. The tiny speck of the horse wagon was approaching. Only a few more minutes and then the wagon would come._

_Rain fell like tears._

_He sunk down from his place along the fence. His hands and head in his lap, broken. He had only been there a week but he was already out of order, or so he thought. He just wanted to go home._

_Tossing a rock in frustration, he sighed._

_"Fuck!" He shouted._

_He ruffled his hair, violently. Wiping his face, he spat on the ground._

_"What the fuck's the point? I can't do shit. I'm so weak!" He shouted, pressing his palms against his head._

_Rain fell upon him, soaking his worn linen clothing. Water fell down his cheeks, eye-water. His breath floated away as a mist. He shivered. How long until the cart would show? How long would he feel this pain, this shame? Drowned in his thoughts, he failed to realize the tiny footsteps that approached from his flank._

_"This is impossible!"_

_He heaved, violently._

_"I just want to go home. I want to quit." He whimpered._

_As he wiped his face of tears, he realized something. The light rain that bathed him had stopped its assault. Something was shielding him. It continued to pelt the ground around him, but not on him. Then he heard a most calming voice speak above him._

_"Why do you want to quit?" The soft, musical voice asked._

_The boy raised his head, his face astonished._

_A short, chubby girl with orange pigtails and a drenched, white dress was standing before him. She was holding up a tiny umbrella, covering him and leaving her to be doused in rain. The shadow of the umbrella had masked her features, leaving only her rosy cheeks and smiling mouth visible. She must have been no older than eight years old. She stared at him, her head cocked to the side slightly, like a curious bird. Her bright, wide-eyed stare followed him._

_"What?" He questioned._

_"Why do you want to quit?" The girl asked, confused._

_"Quit what?" He asked, dismissively._

_"The military. You're in front of a trainee camp, silly."_

_He sighed._

_"So why do you want to quit? You don't look weak. You must be at least a two taller than me." She asked._

_"Because it's too hard; this is no life for me. That's why I'm going home."_

_"What's hard?"_

_"I don't know? Everything, I guess. Everyone yells at me for no reason, these unbearable conditions, the rotting food, everything. I never worked so hard in my life. And now, I realized there is nothing for me here. I'm not needed. I thought I could do it but I can't. There has to be something out there, something easier than this life."_

_"Easier?"_

_"Yeah, this life is impossi—."_

_"Nothing is impossible!" She said, enthusiastically._

_He was taken aback by this. But soon it was drowned in anger. Not at her but at what he saw in her, himself, his naiveté._

_"What do you know, you're just a kid." He snapped._

_"So are you." She pouted. "You can't be any if you don't try, right?"_

_"Well I tried. I tried so hard but." He sighed._

_"But what?"_

_"I realized it—the military—all of this doesn't matter anymore. Besides, I realized that being in the military is impossible for me. It was nothing, just some foolish childhood dream of mine."_

_"Nothing?"_

_"Nothing."_

_"Then why are you crying?" She asked._

_"Eh?"_

_"You're crying." She pointed out._

_"I am?" He uttered._

_He touched his face. He hadn't realized it but he was indeed crying. Why?_

_"If joining the military wasn't important to you, then why are you crying?"_

_"I-I don't know."_

_She didn't respond._

_"It's not important, anyway. What was the point of joining the military in the first place? I could be back in the inn." He growled._

_"What about helping others? Isn't a soldier's duty to protect the citizens?"_

_"I know that, but what's the point? The walls will do the work."_

_"What if they break?"_

_"They're impenetrable walls, girl."_

_"Still, we need soldiers, people like you."_

_"Like me?" He snapped._

_"Ah huh, want to know what I think?"_

_"Tsk, sure." He sighed, uninterested._

_"I think you the kind of person that doesn't quit after a little failure."_

_"Tsk, what do you know about me?" He barked._

_"I know not just anyone can be selected for training. My sister didn't pass the fitness test, you see. You have that at least. You passed that, didn't you? Then you can do this too."_

_He looked at her closely. His eyes narrowed in confusion._

_"What did you mean?"_

_"I mean that you look like the kind of person that doesn't want to give up. Isn't that why you're crying, because you don't know which choice to choose? You know you can do it, but you choice not to. You think there's nothing worthwhile in the military, that it's useless but you couldn't be more wrong."_

_He did not speak, instead he was listening attentively._

_"This world is cruel. But that doesn't mean you should give up. We all need soldiers. We need them because even if they don't do anything but sit around, they still mean something. They mean hope."_

_"Hope."_

_"Yes. You know what is out there, beyond the walls?"_

_"No."_

_"Me neither. But don't you want to see what's out there?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Do you hope for that chance?"_

_"Of course."_

_"Then why quit? Nothing is easy in life, that's why there're things worth going after. If you try giving it all you got then maybe something good will come of it." She smiled._

_"Huh?"_

_"If you quit the military, then you'll never have a change to go out there. Then you can't protect your family or neighbors or anyone else from the monsters out there."_

_He hadn't realized that._

_"But—."_

_"But what? We all have to struggle if we are to win. And what I think is a win is to walk free beyond the walls, unafraid."_

_"I see." He uttered._

_"And you know what kind of person I see sitting in front of me?"_

_"What?" He asked, curious._

_"I see someone that thinks they can't do anything. I see someone that's wrong."_

_He remained silent._

_"I see someone that has passion. All he needs is a little push out of his cage."_

_He looked down, soaking in what she said._

_"Say, mind if I sing you a song?" She asked, eagerly/_

_"A song, what for?"_

_"It's a song my Mama taught me. It'll cheer you up."_

_He did not protest._

_The inner fortune of people is_

_Like colored light which shines through colored glass_

_The pleasant everyday life is_

_Like a warm candle light_

_The very far green plains_

_The rich beautiful water_

_The grand nature still provides for their children_

_We hopefully can understand it someday_

_We are walking to the other side of the horizon_

_We hopefully can understand it someday_

_We go with firms steps..._

_"I forgot the rest of it." She chuckled, knocking her small fist against her head, comically._

_He looked up to her. She had finished singing. His eyes were wide and his heart filled with a renewed energy. He was no longer tired. He no longer cried. He stood up._

_"What was that song?" He asked._

_"My mother taught me it. It's called Caged Bird."_

_"Why did you sing it?"_

_"Because, you remind me of that song. You're like a caged bird. You think nothing matters. That you're helpless, but when someone opens your cage, you're free. Buts it's your choice to stay in the cage." She said._

_He remained silent, soaking in what she said. As silence gripped them for another few seconds, a man's voice was heard, calling for someone._

_"Oh, that's my Papa. I have to go."_

_"Okay."_

_"Don't give up, okay?" She said._

_He didn't say a word._

_"Bye-bye." She shouted, before running down the road towards a tall man._

_"Good bye." He uttered._

_Standing alone in the rain once again, the clip-clop of a horse-drawn wagon caught his attention. Raising his head, he was met with another set of tired eyes._

_"Oi, kid. You coming or what?" The wagon driver asked._

_He remained silent, trying to regurgitate the words he wanted to say._

_'Yes, take me home,'_

_"No, I'm staying." He said._

_The driver tossed a tiny, relieved grin._

_"Good." Was all he said before riding off, leaving the boy once again, alone._

_He fell to his knees and laughed._

_"I-I did it." He smiled, somberly._

_"I didn't give up."_

_He stood back up and headed back into the camp. Night had come and he was bathed in shadow. The starry night graced his world as he walked towards the trainee cabins._

_He held a clump of mud in his hand. Squeezing it, he looked up towards the sky and smiled._

_"I won't ever quit."_

* * *

"HAHAHAHA!"

"What's so funny, idiot!" Auruo groaned.

"That has got to be the cheesiest story ever." Sachi chuckled.

"Shut up, I never asked you for your opinion." Auruo growled.

"_Wakatta_, but it was so cliché. It sounds like a very bad romance story." He chortled.

"Enough already, why don't you head back to your table and give me some peace and quiet.

"_Wakatta, Taichou_." Sachi saluted. "I should get going then. I promised Mike I'd spar with him later."

"Alright." Auruo sighed.

With that, Sachi walked off to join his friends across the room, leaving a flustered and exhausted Auruo, alone and drained.

"Damn idiot. It meant something to me." He uttered.

* * *

**A Few Days Later**

The cool night's breeze kissed Auruo's worn lips as he finished shoveling the Legion's horse stables of manure. It was a terrible job, even more so than the casualty reports. Nothing but the smell of decaying feces and urine kept the 23-year-old man company, this lonely night. Tossing the caked shovel into the pile for the recruits to wash, he exited the stables and heading round towards the Legion barracks.

He was tired, fitly, but more importantly, alone.

"Damn it, I stink. Hope Sachi doesn't kick me out of our bunk for smelling." He spoke to himself.

As he walked closer towards the edge of the stables, he heard a voice, he heard singing.

"What the hell? Who is singing this late at night?" He questioned.

As he drew closer to the voice, the song became clearer and clearer until Auruo froze. That song being sung was no drunken tone. He had heard this before.

"Hum, hum, _the inner fortune of people is like colored light which shines through colored glass the pleasant everyday life is like a warm candle light_."

'_That song!_' He screamed in his mind.

He dropped the bucket he had and ran towards that song. Turning a corner, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"_The very far green plains, the rich beautiful water, the grand nature still provides for their children. We hopefully can understand it someday. We are walking to the other side of the horizon. We hopefully can understand it someday. We go with firms steps..._"

"Petra?!" Auruo gasped.

"Huh?" The auburn-haired girl said.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, out of breath.

His eyes were wide as saucers. His heart was beating a million miles an hour.

_'That song.'_

"Oh me? Sachi asked me to wipe down the horses before heading off to bed. Ah, there we are, all done." She smiled.

"T-that."

"That what?"

"That song."

"Oh, that. It's just a little song my Mom taught me to calm me when I'm feeling down. Oh, but don't worry Platoon Leader. I'm fine." She babbled.

"_Caged Bird_?"

"Oh yeah. How did you know the song's name? Did my mother tell you?" She laughed, teasingly.

He lowered his head, his eyes covered in shadow.

"Platoon Leader."

"What are you doing to me?" He uttered.

"What was that, Platoon leader? I couldn't quite hear you." She asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He said before turning from her.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Petra. I just need to head to bed, is all."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I should head to bed, too." She laughed.

He remained silent, still looking down at the ground.

"Well, I'm off to bed. See you later then, Sir." She smiled before passing the sandy-haired man.

"Okay." He whispered.

Petra disappeared into the Barracks behind Auruo. As the door closed shut, Auruo was once again alone. His hands trembled and his face was burning hot.

"What?" He uttered, covering his face with his hand.

"That girl back then. I-It was—?" He gasped.

He fell to his knees, shaken.

He placed his free hand against his chest, feeling the frantic hymn of his beating heart.

_Thump_..._ Thump_... _Thump_.

"Why? What is she doing to me?" He asked himself, aloud.

He looked up to the starry night.

"That girl, she saved me. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here." He muttered.

_Thump._

"Damn it. Why? Of all people, why does it have to be her?" He growled.

_Thump._

"Why do I feel like this?"

_Thump... Thump._

"What do I feel?"

_Thump... Thump... Thump._

He sighed.

Standing back up, he turned on his heel back towards the barracks. He touched his face. It was red hot.

"Petra." He uttered, savoring her name across his tongue.

He smiled. The color faded from his face. "Thank you for that day, Petra."

As he walked towards the large brick building ahead of him, he saw moment in the treetops above. At the tip of a tree branch he saw two birds, two kingfishers. One was a brilliant-blue one with a unique lavender head plume and the other, a few feet away was an orange one with an amber head plume. Both stared curiously at him as he stared back.

'_Isn't that blue one the same bird I saw four years ago?' _He thought.

"Nah, can't be." He smiled.

Walking towards the warmth of the Barracks he smile, having only one thought in his mind.

_Thump... Thump... Thump._

A song she had sung to him a long time ago in the rain. A song that saved him from doubt. The song she sung.

...

_"It was a lovely tone. How it graced his ears, how it flowed like water in the air. It was magical in its ability to soothe his worn body. It was enchanting how it had lit a flame; a tiny ember ready to grow within him when he though it never would light. It was a song she sung."_

**Chapter Song(s): ****Prelude of Dreams by Audiomachine**

**Flashback: Eye-water by Hiroyuki Sawano (Shingeki no Kyojin OST)**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks again for the support with this story. Sorry for the long update period (Two weeks) but thanks for the reviews, it really gives me the motivation to write this story. Anyway, I know it's kind of cheesy this chapter but I had to -_-. Anyway, the next chapter is mainly fluffed filled but after that it'll get really serious, brutally serious.


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